Of Dusts and Darkness
by Twisted Fate MK 2
Summary: He fought through Darkness, transcended it and his own humanity, laid low Gods and Demons alike, then burned to save the world, in a new realm, he must reclaim himself, and move on beyond what once was and what will be, yet may be thwarted. With new friends, perhaps, he can save a new world, for them if not for him. THE REDO IS UP AND STARTED
1. Burning In The Kiln

**So, my loyal readers and followers, I apologize deeply for this but, alas, I simply can no longer abide the sloppy story planning I have done so far and, as a result, will be re-writing every chapter quickly, changing a few things here and there. Relax, guys, don't panic. This will be happening very, very fast. MAYBE a week and everything will be finished. I want to expand things is all, and I hope you guys will be willing to work with me and help me. This will take place beginning just after the Grimm Invasion in Volume 2. Thanks for the support and understanding,**

**Yours sincerely, Twisted.**

**P.S. to all my reviewers... Yes, Zanmei Taiyang translates to mean Praise the Sun. **

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"So, my friend, how shall we get there?" Solaire asked me calmly, seeming to not even care about the dozens of Black Knights prowling throughout the Kiln. He had followed me loyally and fought by me bravely ever since I saved him from the parasite that sought to twist his mind into believing lies. At his own insistence, and much to my annoyance, he refused to leave my side until my goal was met with success. "We could always just has stood against us as of yet, why would that change now?" He laughed loudly, the sound somewhat muffled behind his helmet, and I couldn't help my small smile. He had always been the chipper one out of my group, and it was fitting that he stood with me now at the last as my Brother of the Sun. I nodded at him simply, confirming his suggestion of an outright attack as my own decision as well. he grew silent for several moments, seated on the large stone, and simply peered at me from under his helmet. "You know if we fall here, there can and _will _be no recovery. We've one shot, brother. Are you sure this is the best way?"

I nodded again, signing at him silently," Yes, if we go in there and find something unfriendly, the Knights will attack us. It's better we thin them now than face a horde later." I rose from the ground easily, my lean body well adapted to my heavy Berenike armor. Across the back of my hip, angled ever so slightly up, my old friend Oscar's Astora Straight-Sword clung firmly to me with a sturdy, thick leather belt. I had long since kept my face wrapped in a dark cloth mask, concealing gruesome scars I couldn't stand to bear to the world yet. I gripped the sturdy, massive great-sword I had found with my armor so long ago in Anor Londo, finding odd comfort in the weight of it in my hand, coupled with the weight of the great-shield I carried on my left arm, its pair. Adjusting my mask, I let Solaire check and, in a few cases, tighten my armor to my body in preparation before giving him the same treatment. Completed, we checked our weapons for damages and wear, more a habit now than anything else. They rarely suffered any mars or damages thanks to the massive amounts of souls poured into the metal, reinforcing it to ungodly levels.

"Shall we... pray before battle, brother?" Solaire asked timidly, knowing our Lord had long since died yet unable to accept the loss as of yet. I nodded and, as I had done so many times before, knelt beside him, head bowed with my shield and sword resting against the dirt. Solaire nodded happily, puling his Sunlight medal from beneath his armor and clasping it in his hands. "Though we may tread a path marred by shadow and deceit, may we always return to the light and truth of the Sun. Though we will fight in the shadow, may the Sun always be as a beacon to our souls. Should our final breath be in the dark, may our loss bring glory to the Sun and our hearts burn until the last with its strength and glory. Lord Gwynn, bless our blades so they may not dull, our armor so it may not fail and our shields so they may not splinter and, should we fall, bless our souls as we breathe our final breaths." though I had long since lost any faith in Gwynn, I knew Solaire still held him dearly in his heart and such prayers, while ultimately useless in battle, gave him the strength to keep going. So I played along with the man's hopes. I owed him that much, at the very least.

Nodding reverently, my brother slid the coin back into place under his armor and straightened, thanking me inaudibly with a hand to help me rise. Fully prepared, I raised my shield high and dropped into the Kiln with a loud noise of crashing steel, drawing the attention and ire of the Knights. Standing at around seven feet, I was almost on par with the large knights and, being larger and physically more resistant than Solaire, would take vangaurd in this fight. Solaire stood above me on the small drop's edge, sword planted in the hard earth, and I watched the first Knight charge towards me. Holding my sword horizontally to my right, I stepped forward into a horizontal slash, cleaving the halberdier in tow easily. Solaire followed it up, a crackling spear of lightning scoring burns across a swordsman's chest and tossing him lifelessly to the dirt. Another pair of powerful slashes saw a charging pair of Knights fall to the side, blood flowing freely from them. I raised my shield, intercepting a heavy strike from an axe-wielding Knight, and Solaire sent another spear searing into him, this time melting his helmet, and shoved him away easily. The fight flowed like that for some time, me striking down any I could directly and Solaire hurling lightning into as many of the lost warriors as he could manage before I signaled to him to advance with me. Owing to centuries, maybe even a millennia, of fighting by my side, he obeyed without hesitation and we pressed forward, towards another group of Knights that easily fell to our combined attacks. I would defend from each blow, Solaire sinking his blade deeply into exposed joints and allowing me to finish them easily. Yanking my bloody blade from the final Hollow in our way, I turned to regard my brother-in-all-if-not-blood worriedly. I could hear his heavy breathing, and see his shoulders rise and fall and had to admit that I too felt weary. We had just cut through Lord gwynn's personal guard after all, anyone would feel exhausted after a half hour of that.

"Just a little more, brother. One final effort and we shall have our own Sun," I signed, gesturing at the waiting Kiln with a hidden smile. He nodded, standing straighter and turning to me.

"Before we go in there, I need to say something, if I may." I nodded quietly, motioning for him to continue," This... this is my dream. You save my soul and my life, then brought me to the cusp of fulfilling my deepest desire and oldest dream. For that alone, I owe you much more than petty words as they could never hold a candle to your deeds. But still, say them I must. Thank you, my brother. Not just my brother of the sun," he stepped forward, offering his shield-hand," you are my kin. I name you my battle-bound brother, and offer you a place among the ranks of my family."I clasped his hand happily, pride swelling within me at his words, and happily accepted his offer. His smile could be heard in his words as he spoke now," I cannot begin to say the honor you do me. Now then, shall we?"

I nodded curtly, smile disappearing entirely. Now that that was done, it was time for some more fighting. This time, our foe would be far more potent than some petty Hollowed Knights. Few could compare to the Black Knights, be inside the Kiln I could sense something of immense, unbridled power. I could do little more than hope, as I stepped through the the entry-way with Solaire beside me, our shields raise and swords ready, that Solaire could stand the meeting with what I knew win my heart awaited us. Even as the dirty, burned figure rose stiffly, the sound of cracking bones echoing in the otherwise silent Kiln, I felt my heart sink at the sight. Lord Gwynn, hollowed out and mad, stared at us with hunger and rage. I turned to regard Solaire for a moment, and though his blade shook ever so slightly he held his ground beside me. Turning back to the Hollow, I charged forward as fast as my armor could allow. He easily dodged my leading swing and I sank to my knees quickly, shield raised to defend against his crushing counter attack. With a screech of fury, it leapt away to avoid the spear of condensed lightning that arced through the space it had occupied until just a moment ago and returned to me with a devastating slash to my shield.

With its free hand, it yanked my shield aside easily and then lunged forward to grip my throat with crushing force. Solaire rushed forward with a cry of 'brother' and Gwynn threw me into him like a rather annoying sack of potatoes, leaving us lying in a heap on the ground. Solaire was on top of me, and so was the first to rise to counter Gwynn's vicious, relentless assault. He fought admirably for several seconds before, with a cruel backhand, Gwynn sent him limply to the ground with his helmet dented from the massive blow. Unconscious, Solaire could not defend himself. And I was too far to save him so, in desperation, I hurled my sword at his chest. His resulting shriek echoed off the walls of the kiln painfully as it shot through his left side, severing his arm easily, and continued onwards into the wall beside the entrance. Rising warily, I drew my straight-sword and watched the wounded monster turn on me, Solaire forgotten in its blind, unbridled rage as its flame sprang to life with crackling red flames and it charge at me with reckless, wild attacks. I struggled to keep up with the sheer speed and relentlessness of the blows, stepping back with each attack until I hit the wall. As it reared back for another strike, I lashed out with my smaller sword and scored a wound across its gut and, in its momentary pause as the pain set in, rolled aside heavily. I once more went into a retreat as the monstrosity, again, began wailing away at my shield until my arm felt heavy and numb, and my breath came in ragged, painful gasps. This went on for a quarter hour, and I only scored a few small cuts on him in that time, before I stumbled and collapsed to the ash covered floor, and Gwynn loomed over me menacingly. He planted a foot on my chest, pinning me to the floor and, exhausted, I could not raise my shield to defend against him as he raised his own blade high to end me.

In that instant, Solaire struck true. His blank sprang from Gwynn's Hollowed breast, blood spattering my own chest as he shrieked, and I swung as powerfully as I could manage, and removed his left leg below the knee. The monster shrieked as it fell to my right, a sound quickly ended when Solaire removed his head, and I lay there panting for a minute. Solaire sat beside me, his helmet abandoned to reveal a youthful, if bloodied from the cut above his brow, face with piercing green eyes and snowy white hair and smiled widely," We did it, brother. And that... that was certainly a thing of note."

"Indeed." I signed several minutes later, having at last caught my breath," So, are you absolutely sure you wish to relight the Flame? You and I will certainly not survive the event, and while I have no issue with this i wish to make certain you are sure it is what you wish." I knew the answer already, I was certain, but I needed to be sure of it before I did this. Such a decision is not one to make on a whim.

"Ever the considerate one, eh?" he chuckeled, smiling even wider," Yes, I am certain. I trained for years, became an Undead, and fought for what feels like an eternity for this moment, right here." He looked at me levelly for a moment as I forced myself to sit up tiredly, if you do not wish to join me, I would hold no grudge against you. You have done more than enough, just by helping me here. Your life isn't needed as well."

I laughed inaudibly, shoulders shaking slightly, for a moment," I don't just do this for you, brother. I do this for myself as well. I swore to Oscar I would discover, and fulfill, the destiny of the Undead. And I will do so happily, regardless of where that fate lies. I am merely happy that it is with you, my brother." He rose to his feet then, looking regretfully at Gwynn's corpse, before helping me to my feet.

We moved to the entrance, where my own weapon lay buried in the stone, and left our weapons by it, before striding to the center of the Kiln, where a crude bonfire sat dark. Even now, I could sense its yearning for purpose. Its hunger for humanity and thirst for souls sparked its fire as soon as we neared it, the flames lashing out and lighting us ablaze instantly. Solaire screamed loudly, and had I been able, I too would have done so. As it stood, I soon collapsed to my knees in agony. Pain, and the acrid smell of burning flesh and hair, were all I knew for what felt an eternity. An eternity ablaze, to save a world that would never, ever know of our deeds. But an eternity that, even through the pain, I felt was well spent.


	2. Slaying a Beast, Making a Friend

**This note is just to notify everyone, this chapter IS updated. That is all. Thank you.**

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I gasped painfully, using my sword almost as a staff to keep me upright as I limped up the dark cavern, my shield hanging heavily from my limp arm. I had woken in the dark, cold Kiln several hours past and was now proceeding to try and leave the dark cave, and ascertain if our attempt had worked and the world had been healed. I sensed no power coming from the Kiln itself, nor the First Flame but nearby, just ahead even, I could sense life. Wonderful, beautiful life and warmth as bright to me as any sun had ever been. the agony I had felt upon first awakening had been horrible, easily among the worst I had felt for a long time.

But after some time it faded, my wounds healing quickly as all Undead could boast the ability to do, and I had dragged my carcass out of the ash. Even now, my bones were stiff and my armor filthy and coated in hard, stiff ash like brittle plates clung to me in every place not a joint as I sat at the mouth of the cave on a small rock and gazed, teary-eyed, at the beautiful, deep blue of the sky. It had worked. We had saved the world, just like Oscar and Solaire had wished to do so fervently. I simply laid there for hours, watching the world around me. Soon, the hours turned into a day as I sat there, healing quickly and absorbing any energy carried upon the winds from far off.

As the sun rose on the second day, most of my wounds were healed completely and I could freely move if I so chose but I saw no need to do so. At the peak of the day, a group of young people stepped into the clearing. They were armed to the teeth, a scythe, a rapier, an eastern blade resembling a katana and a pair of armored gauntlets, and combating a massive, scarred and filthy scorpion. Seeing them being pushed back, I forced myself to rise.

Dirt and ash fell from me freely as I stepped heavily toward them, my sword resting easily in its place on my right shoulder and my shield at my side, ready to be raised instantly if I needed it. The black clothed one noticed me first, eyes widening at what I assumed to be a frightening sight, and the cloaked one fell to her back at my feet heavily as she barely dodged the monster's claw. her eyes widened as well, which I found humorous after the first reacting the same, and I caught the stinger effortlessly on my shield even if my knees and arm bent more than normal in my weakened state. I looked at the cloaked girl as she clambered to her feet and stepped back from me and the monster. With a jerk of my head, I motioned her to get back. I needed the warm up.

"Team, get back. Let him take this one," she barked authoritatively, her team obeying immediately in their fatigued state. The monster hissed, rearing back a claw and smashing it against my shield. The second claw was met by the edge of my blade, and split like warm butter sending the upper half rolling away as the creature reared back and hissed in pain. Before it could mount a defense, I bisected its other claw as well with a spin to my right.

Its stinger flashed forward quickly, impacting against my chest-plate uselessly, and I smiled thinly before I lifted my great-sword high, and planted it to the hilt in the monster's head before yanking the blade down, through its mandibles and back out. the thick, blackish blood splattered across the ground and it chittered pitifully even as I righted my grip on the sword and let it rest once more on my shoulder.

I turned to the young girls even as the souls and energy from the beast flowed into me, healing my remaining wounds easily and bolstering my strength once more, and nodded at them easily as the red-cloaked girl approached me shyly.

"That was cool... So, um, did you happen to come from that cave?" She pointed back at the entrance to the cave I had previously sat beside over her shoulder and I nodded simply," Okay, um, we weren't sent to get you. This forest ca be dangerous,and our headmaster wanted to speak to you. If you don't mind, could you follow us? Please?" I chuckeled internally at her expression she couldn't be too used to commands such as she held now, with the way she acted and her age.

With another nod, the girl smiled widely and vanished in a flurry of petals, startling me slightly, before I spotted her beside her resting friends, speaking to a white haired girl for several moments before looking back at me," We can have a ride here inside an hour, okay?" She half-yelled it and I nodded, passing by them and retaking my spot on the rock to wait. Her shyness disspipated quickly when I began trying to chip the filth from my blade, scowling slightly at me for several moments before stomping over to me," Stop that! If you are going to clean your sword, do it right or hand it over." I eyed her humorlessly for a moment before shrugging and gesturing for her to sit beside me and handing her my massive sword.

I had expected her to collapse under the weight but, surprisingly, she took it easily and withdrew a large rag and a small vial from her small pack on her waist, pouring the liquid onto the blade and starting to scrub at the ash and dirt gently. Amazingly, it came off easily, flowing in large, dirty streams down the blade and onto the ground as her team surrounded us. "You have to care for your weapon, that way it cares for you. S'what my uncle Qrow, with a 'Q' not a c, always says. You should always, always clean and maintain your weapon no matter what every day." She continued to lecture me for not cleaning my sword, like it was my fault it had accumulated so much grime over the years in that cave.

"Don't lecture him, you dolt. His sword took care of that Death Stalker with no problems, so give it a rest!" The white haired girl said angrily, though the red-cloaked one merely smiled.

"Don't mind Weiss, she's just mad 'cuz she's dirty." The girl said, before her eyes widened," Oh right! I forgot, sorry. I'm Ruby, that's my sister, Yang, my partner, Weiss, even if she's kinda mean, and y sister's partner, Blake." I nodded at the foursome who, save for Weiss, waved at me with varying levels of interest. I accepted the, now clean, blade back from the young girl and inspected it thoroughly, impressed at how pristine it looked after her care. The blade shined like new, something I normally had to work for hours to achieve, and I nodded appreciatively at it after several minutes before setting it by my side," Can I work on your shield too? I love weapons and armor, so I don't mind." I nodded eagerly, handing the shield to her which she did, somewhat, struggle to hold. To her credit, she managed it and started cleaning the massive thing intently, even tracing out the grooves and rivets in the metal, down to the finest detail.

Yang plopped down beside me, leaning against me with an odd look in her eye," So, you like my sis cleaning your stuff?" I shrugged non-comitally, watching the younger girl work with interest born of years with that thing strapped to my arm. "Well, don't you get any ideas-"

"Yang, it's fine. I take care of all your weapons too, it's fun. Just relax, okay?" She said quietly, never once looking up from my shield after she got up and laid it against the rock, bending over the great-shield and working with her rag. The blonde sighed irritably, but didn't comment further for some time until a large metal... thing descened from the clouds and Ruby handed me my almost immaculate shield," Rides here!"


	3. Meeting a very Old Friend

**(A/N: My version of Ruby is the version that is a little more professional when on missions so until we get back to Beacon, don't expect any super adorable outbursts of cuteness. Lol. Also, I hope you guys like the re-dos of the chapters thus far. An all new chapter will be out tomorrow, I promise.)**

"Come on, it's just a Bulhead! We ride them all the time around here! Honestly, what kind of moron doesn't know what a Bullhead is?" Weiss had finally snapped at me, something I felt was rather a common occurrence with the small girl.

"Weiss, it's fine. Ozpin did say he would be…. Odd." Blake cut in, putting a hand on the smaller girl's shoulder in an effort to calm her.

"Yes, but this is ludicrous!" I rubbed the back of my neck embarrassedly, but I didn't budge. I hated flying no matter the means. Ever since that blasted Raven carried me from the Asylum, I had a crippling fear of heights as much as it ashamed me to admit it.

"Are you….. scared? Of flying?" Ruby asked me I a small, almost concerned voice, leaning against the edge of the door on the side of the vehicle. The other girls looked at me curiously, Weiss' eyes widening ever so slightly at my subtle nod and looking just as slightly pained at my admission. "Is it the heights that bother you?"

"Yes, I cannot stand being so high up for so long," I signed ashamedly, head bowed and adjusting my mask to fit on my face properly.

"Hey Blake, you know sign language?" The red-haired girl turned to the other one, who nodded simply, asking that I repeat my signing. So I did, and she took a second to decipher the words.

"My signing is rusty, and his signs are somewhat different, but yes. I think the height is the problem for him. Right?" I nodded and she smiled slightly.

"Pilot, can you fly as low as possible back to beacon?" Ruby called into the vehicle loudly. I could hear a muffled response from inside it," Thanksalot! He says he'll fly as low as possible, though he'll need to climb once we get to Beacon. That better? Can't do much else for you, sorry."

I sighed, nodding slowly before watching the girls walk into the Bullhead, Yang still glaring at me ever so lightly. Once they were all in, seated along the inner right side just in the door, I pulled myself into it with a grunt, warily propping myself against the wall with my right hand after I strapped the great-sword to my back with the thick, leather chords I had long used for such a thing. I set my shield against the edge of the back wall, next to a small-ish closed door and slid into the seat across from Weiss.

The machine roared loudly, at least until the doors slid closed and the sound was muffled, and I braced myself with my arms against the wall when it jerked upwards sharply, feeling my stomach churn slightly as it rose and _tilted_ to the bloody, sodding, pig sucking side. I made a light, strangled sound in my throat and, down the line, Yang laughed quietly.

"What?" She whined when Ruby bopped her on the head from her side, by the door," He faced down a frikkin' Death Stalker without so much as flinching and won. But look, he's terrified of flying. It's just kinda funny."

"Not funny~ Keep it up and I'll tell a certain teacher 'bout your friend fictions~" Ruby half said, half sang teasingly as Yang glared at her, face tinging red ever so slightly.

"You wouldn't!"

"Yes she would," Weiss cut in, smiling slightly. "Trust me, she's annoying like that. All the time."

"Hey!" Ruby squealed loudly, waving her arms," I'm not annoying! I. Am. Adorable." She enunciated each syllable carefully, complete with a tap of her foot. "And you know it, Weissy."

"Call me that again, I'll throw out your cookies," Weiss said with a light glare, pointing at the younger girl with her right eyebrow raised slightly and her head tilted to the side.

"That's cold, Ice Queen. In fact it's-" Yang smiled widely as she was about to say something, but was quickly shut down by her team-mates yell of 'Don't you even dare!' She slouched in her seat, pouting visibly," You guys are mean."

"And you," Blake said seriously, with a completely straight face," are pun-acceptable sometimes, Yang. Simply pun-acceptable."

The group burst into laughter at that horrible, horrible pun and I started to relax ever so slightly, before the Bullhead tilted sharply to the right and I slammed my arms back against the walls, staring at the ceiling.

"We're just about there, promise." Ruby called from down the row of seats, grimacing sympathetically at me," Just hang in there for a bit more, 'kay?"

I nodded, and listened to the group bicker and laugh and tease for the next twenty minutes or so, smiling lightly behind my mask even as my stomach spun in small circles and the damned metal bird tilted sharply again. By whatever gods that still dwelt on this plane, I hated this damned thing more than the raven. The ride passed slowly for me, despite Ruby's many attempts to help me calm down with jokes and bickering with her team. I just couldn't stand flying and, frankly, not seeing where the bloody hells I was headed was worse than staring hundreds of feet down at a passing ground.

Eventually, the pilot announced through the sealed door that we were going to be climbing in altitude rapidly to land at Beacon's grounds. Speaking for me as I signed, Blake thanked the man and I grit my teeth and held onto my shield tightly as we angled upwards in a, in my opinion, sharp angle. The girls didn't even seem to notice, beyond holding onto a handle here or there to steady themselves, and I glared at them. Within a minute, however, we levelled out and landed rather softly. The door slid open and I watched the girls walk out easily, before standing and half leaping from the damned metal machine.

"Ozpin wants you to come with me to his office," Ruby quipped quickly from my side," After your meeting, I'll help you work on your armor if you want?" I started to shake my head no, before I saw her eyes widen and grunted, stepping back from the display and, surprising even myself, nodded at her. "Yes!" She cheered, clapping and jumping happily," Well, follow me." I followed her, as she faux-marched through the halls, whistling happily.

I couldn't quite figure out the small girl, and elected to simply ignore it for now, instead opting to look around at the place I was in now. Young kids of varying features in a relatively standard, if not apparently well-enforced, dress code as well as- Are those bunny ears? Fucking bunny ears? Dear gods, what in the hells kind of place am I in. Ignoring the… bunny…. I could so far guess that I was in some manner of school, most likely a military academy of sorts as everyone I passed put out an almost atmospheric quality of strength, coupled with several people from this place having fought monsters, I assumed in plural, to retrieve me on orders. Bearing in mind the apparent military nature of this place, and by extension this 'Ozpin' fellow, I regretted the rather poor state of my armor. I'd have rather been given some time to clean it so I could at least look the part of a warrior. Though, judging from the looks of the people I passed they could already tell I was such a warrior by my armor and bearing.

Big ass sword probably helped with that impression, though, if I'm honest. Nervous from the constant, roving eyes on me I reached up and adjusted my face-mask on my face. It was still perfectly in place, but I couldn't help myself. It was merely a nervous habit. Heh, Solaire had always suggested I just wear a full helmet like his if I was that worried about it and, after what that other bastard did, I wished I had done so.

I shook those dark thoughts from my mind as the young girl snapped her fingers to gain my attention. I had stopped in the middle of the hall, lost in my own mind for a moment. After assuring her I was alright, a possible lie I feared, I returned to following her easily through the halls. I could feel myself losing my own grip on my mind as we walked, and feared I was beginning to hollow out. The thought filled me with terror and I quickly absorbed more power from my souls, pushing the issue back for now at the very least, as the girl stopped in front of a large, wooden door.

"Here you are, big guy. Go on in." The girl smiled widely at me then skipped away lightly," I'm gonna go get changed outta my combat gear. See ya in a bit." I nodded silently, and she vanished around the corner.

I stood there for a moment, taking a breath of air to steady myself. I pushed the door open easily, stepping into the large and, admittedly, impressive office. It was wide, and circular, with a dazzling view of the grounds far below the spire that housed it, and held the landing pad we had landed on. A large, ornate oak desk sat just back from the center of the room, two equally impressive chairs in front of it and one behind it. Shelves lined the interior walls to the right and left of the door I had just entered, filled to the brim with books of varying sizes and colors. Across from me was a man, standing on a balcony with his face raised towards the sky and hands clasped behind his back.

"Please, brother, have a seat." My eyes widened imperceptibly at his words as 'Ozpin' turned, smiling at me. His Sunlight medal hung formally from his neck on a new, to me at the least, silver chain. I barely recognized the clean, well shaven face of my long-time brother in combat.

But still, I sat across from him, pulling my mask down and removing my helmet. Short, black hair hung in dirty clumps, and three large scars had long obscured my face. I had gotten them from the drakes in that accursed valley by Blight Town. They were jagged and pink across my pale, grimy face, and went from my left brow, just below the hairline, across my entire face and down to the side of my throat. My survival was only because Solaire, who now seemed to call himself Ozpin, killed the beast and helped me escape to heal. Undead may heal most any wound, but scars would often remain on our flesh. My own body proved that, being a mass of scars of varying sizes. I both loathed and loved that, because I was hideous and yet could easily recall each one by touch. Memory was a precious thing to my kind, as our memory was oft the first thing we lost.

"Solaire? You're alive?" I signed excitedly, setting my helmet on the desk before me. The man smiled, nodding ever so slightly.

"Well, as close to 'alive' as either of us are wont to be at any given time, I suppose." He chuckled and damned if I didn't do so as well, more out of joy at seeing him than anything else really. "It is good to see you, at last my friend. I knew that, eventually, you'd crawl out of that pit. But still, I was surprised to see you on our cameras in the forest, just lounging there on a rock. I had people watching but they almost missed you. When I was told you were out there, I sent my best available team."

"Thank you but… I am unfamiliar with the word you used." I said slowly, not knowing the signs for 'camera'.

"Ah, yes. Forgive me, brother. I forget you are new to this age. A camera is a small metal device for monitoring an area. Using it, I can see any area I place it no matter where I am so long as I have a connection to the camera." He informed me easily, smiling apologetically. "Where are my manners? I apologize. How do you feel? Tired?"

"A bit, I had a minor scare when my mind started to drift a while back." I answered, and he instantly grew serious as we both knew what I meant by 'scare'.

"That isn't as much an issue as you may think. Your Darksign should be weakened, sealed by the First Flame like mine is." I slid my gauntlet off quickly and, sure enough, the once fiery, dark marking was still and dark on the palm of my hand," Good. It is sealed, just like mine. That means it isn't a risk to others any longer. You cannot infect anyone with the Darksign unless you want to do so."

"Good, I hadn't sensed it on those around me and feared causing another Undead Outbreak." I signed with obvious relief," Can I still Hollow?"

"Yes, but not nearly as easily. As long as you have the wish to keep going and don't die, you'll probably be fine. You're closer to human now, though, so be aware that you'll need things like food and sleep now." He informed me helpfully, smiling wanly," Other than that, we need to just figure you what you want to do now."

"Suggestions?" I signed honestly, smiling and looking at the clear, blue sky happily.

"Well, you know next to nothing about this world as it stands now, and I can't help you much outside this academy. That said, you have already made a friend here…." He trailed off thoughtfully, staring at a paper on his desk. "I could admit you as a late entry student here at Beacon, perhaps. I you wish it."

"I suppose that is better than nothing, what do I need?" I answered simply, and the aged veteran smiled thinly.

"I'll have a friend, my most trusted colleague, catch you up on what you need to know. Her name is Glynda Goodwitch. She is among the close circle I have allowed to know about us, and she can be trusted I assure you." He assured, pressing a button on his desk," She should be here soon enough."

Within ten minutes, the two of us having just sat there after I replaced my helmet on my head and yanked my mask up in companionable silence, staring out at the beautiful sky. The door opened quietly, shutting with a muted click and a dull thud. Her outfit wasn't the most normal I had seen thus far, the purple interior of her cape standing out greatly. Normal men may have found her beautiful, but I didn't care for looks. Regardless of how she may appear, any woman may be just as ugly as any monster on the inside, and I would gladly kill her if she harmed Solaire.

The poor man, I could tell, was enamored with her as she sat down primly, smiling thinly at him and his eyes twinkled happily, mouth widening in a happy grin. "You called for me, Headmaster." So she was that sort, huh? Formal and unapproachable, with a haughty, dangerous air. Just Solaire's type.

"Yes, you remember that…. Condition of mine, yes?" Her eyes widened slightly, head jerking to look at me for a moment before she looked at Solaire, and nodded mutely. "And I trust you remember my brother?"

"Your Sun Brother? Yes, I remember your tales about him." She paused for a second as Solaire nodded at me simply, smiling warmly. His smile turned to one of amusement when her jaw dropped and she turned to me with wide eyes," Dust, you mean this is-"

"My brother, who shall now go by the name Zanmei Taiyang." Solaire pointed at me with a casual gesture of his left hand, the right gripping a mug tightly. "He awoke a day or so ago and I sent team RWBY to retrieve him. I apologize for not telling you of this beforehand but, in my excitement…" He shrugged apologetically with a small smile.

"Nonsense! Given the circumstance, it's completely understandable to forget a few things about procedure." She said dismissively and my opinion instantly shot up regarding her at her statement," So do you need me to write him up some documents to give him an introduction to our world?"

"If you don't mind, I would greatly appreciate it. I'll give him the ability to read our scripts and escort him to his new room here, at Beacon." Solaire waited a moment as Glynda's eyes narrowed.

"He's going to attend the academy? Why?" She asked lowly, looking at me appraisingly for a moment," From what you used to say, he doesn't really need any training. Why not simply give him an apartment in Vale City and have him fight the Grimm?"

"Because I will _not _send him into a war to fight monsters with no reason to do so beyond my orders. He is my brother, not my slave, Glynda." He said lowly, eyes narrowed ever so slightly for a moment before he blinked several times in surprise at her frightened expression," I-I'm sorry, Miss Goodwitch. I did not mean to- I just- He deserves a chance at something better than just endless bloodletting. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"It's all right, Ozpin." She smiled gently," I get it, I promise. I'll arrange to get his admittance pushed through tonight and I'll spend tomorrow tutoring him if you'll cover my class for me."

"Thank you very much, Miss Goodwitch. I'll handle your class for you, and I really do appreciate your help with this. And doubly so your discretion in it." He leaned back in his seat comfortably, smiling warmly," Perhaps you would reconsider diner with me tomorrow?"

"Not a chance, Ozpin." She deadpanned, standing up and striding from the room," Now I have work to do." Stopping at the door, she turned back to us," I certainly hope this young man is indeed as good and brave as you say he is."

"I would never trust another soul more than him. He is my brother in all but blood, and I will not abandon him now, or ever." She nodded at his answer, striding from the room. Looking at me, he pulled a scrap of paper and scribbled on it," It appears your new friend, Miss Rose, is waiting outside. Have her take you here, it's a dorm just for you I have been saving for several years now. Rest up, Miss Goodwitch is a strict teacher and she'll wear you down tomorrow. I'll have some food delivered to your room later."

I nodded, standing up and striding from the room to meet the young girl who hopped out of her seat," Hiya! Ready to go?" I nodded to her, handing her the note and she smiled," Ooh! I get to see inside that room?! Awesome!" And so we started walking.


	4. Getting to Know New Friends

**(A/N: So, guys and gals, I'm glad to announce that as of this chapter, re-writing is completely done on the older chapters. I hope you don't mind the changes and time I took, but I felt it was necessary in the long run to make me better. Allowing myself to start bad would make me stay that way, and I want to strive for better. Bear in mind, guys, any and all input is welcome and useful to me. I enjoy everything, from the most minor correction in grammar or spelling to the longest most drawn out character discussion. They help, really they do, and I appreciate them to the point that I took what input I got and tried to re-do aspects of my story with that input. **

**Now on to the next chapter, and stay Twisted guys!)**

I followed the girl quickly through the academy, Beacon as I now knew it to be called, having to jog on occasion as she sped up towards our destination which she seemingly found incredibly interesting. Within fifteen minutes we reached the door, and the girl looked back at me with a big smile," That's our room right there!" She pointed across the hall and down three doors," So we can all be friends, right?" I nodded, stepping past her and opening the door with a small silver key-card Ozpin had given me just before I left his office.

Ignoring Ruby's 'Ahh' behind me, I looked around the room. The far wall had two windows each to the right of a medium sized, plain looking desk in the center of the far wall. To my right was a door, opened to reveal what appeared to be a washroom of sorts, I couldn't quite recognize the two medium sized, square machines on the left wall but on the far side was a three foot bench obviously meant for cleaning weapons of blood and gore, and general dirt, complete with brushes and a few rags. This lead me to believe the other machines were for similar purposes, and that the large glass rectangle in the back right corner was meant for cleaning me, as both clothing and equipment were already covered.

Several book-shelves, stocked with history, mythology, technology and science books of all kinds written in MY language instead of the language of the people here. I smiled slightly at that, excited to start studying these new things.

Along the inner right and left walls, just inside the door was a small cooking area on the right with a single counter and small square which, when Ruby opened and whined there was no food in it, I surmised was a food storage unit of some sort. A couple feet from a large, grey, metal machine was a table big enough for two people with two chairs. And along the inner right side was a medium sized bed. The windows had thin white drapes over them, letting sunlight through easily despite being closed, and the floor was covered in what looked like a thick red carpet. A weapon's rack, reinforced with Seer-Steel, was at the foot of the bed to hold his armor. He hoped it could actually do it. (Skip to the bottom for a third person description of the room)

"Here, take this uniform and go in the bathroom to get changed. We can work on your armor after you get done changing," She smiled widely, and I took the offered clothing before attaching my great-sword to the weapon' holder, hanging limply by the straps on my back, and my straight-sword leaning against the wall by the door. Inside the 'bathroom' I stripped my plates, chains and cloth padding underneath leaving them all beside the work-bench before taking the cloth mask and realigning it on my face to hide the scarring across my face from the young girl in the other room. The uniform was comfortable enough, fitting rather well. (For more in depth details, look at the bottom pf the Page.)

When I left the bathroom, carrying the armor plates in my arms, Yang and Blake were waiting with Ruby, chatting quietly before they turned to me and their expressions grew curious. I nodded politely at the trio when my door opened, and I nodded once more to Weiss.

"The hell's up with the mask? It's all dirty." Yang asked loudly, and I sighed quietly to myself. Signing to Blake after I laid the plates against the wall by the bathroom door.

"I have really bad scars, and I don't want to frighten people." Blake translated quickly from her seat at my table. "And I haven't washed it just yet, so since you guys are here I'm wearing a dirty mask."

"I have a scar too, don't see me hiding it," Weiss said judgmentally, pointing at the small scar on her eye," I can barely see out of it too, but it's just a scar."

"You can't see out of it?" Blake asked incredulously, obviously shocked at the revelation," But you fight so elegantly."

"Practice," Weiss shrugged simply," I had the issue come up a long time ago, and learned to compensate. I won't bore you with the details."

"Gotta say, that's kinda badass," Yang admitted begrudgingly as Ruby squealed oddly, hands clutched in front of her tightly.

"That's so cool, Weiss!" Ruby half-yelled, smiling widely," I have the best team-mate ever!"

"Shush, you dolt." Weiss scolded half-heartedly, plopping down on my bed unceremoniously," So why are we here?"

"Ruby wants to work on his armor, so she can look at it and figure it out. WE are here so my innocent little sister doesn't get taken advantage of," Yang said evenly, smiling down at her red-faced sister while I tilted my head to the side and started signing.

"What is taking advantage of someone? We aren't fighting." Blake translated for me quickly, and Yang just glared at me evenly.

"Yeah, yeah." She mumbled, opening my fridge," Geez, you don't even have any food. What kinda place you runnin' here?" I shrugged and she just sighed," Whatever. He Snow Queen, wanna go grab some pizza with Blake?"

"Don't call me that," Weiss ordered," But sure, I could use some food." Blake decided to stay however, reading a small green book avidly. I just shrugged again, retrieving the last of my armor and stacking it by the door. Ruby rushed over to the assembled pieces, grabbing the chest-plate and disappearing into the bathroom to use the workbench in it. I just walked over to my bookshelf and picked up a copy of 'Dust for Dummies: Extended Informative Version' and started reading in hopes of learning a few things. Yang decided to help Ruby, and I silently wondered why the hells she was so antagonistic towards me.

Once Ruby finished with the chest and chain, I started attaching it to the armor stand carefully watching it I case it fell. After an hour, Weiss returned with three 'pizzas' and the armor was fully cleaned, thinks to a grime covered Ruby and Yang. We ate quickly and they bade me goodbye, and goodnight, to return to their own dorm while I kept reading. The pizza was, actually, really, really good. And I was glad to have joined them in eating it. My book though was even better, explaining how Dust worked and what it was used in. Which was practically everything. My lack of using it in anything could prove useful, but for now I needed to stop reading this book and read 'Home Maintenance, From Ovens to Toilets and Everything in Between' so I could wash my blasted mask.

**(The Dorm: **

**The dorms are basically smallish apartments that are a bit cramped for four people. One person, like Zan, would have tons of room however. Due to his lack of knowledge, I will re-describe the dorm itself. **

**To the right, a door in the far right corner leads to the bathroom, with a standing shower, Weapon Cleaning and Maintenance Table, washer and dryer and toilet are. **

**The bed is a Twin sized bed with a red comforter and white sheets, a symbol of a bright, blazing sun emblazoned on the blankets exterior. The edges are trimmed in gold, and the pillows are matching in scheme and style.**

**To the left, against the inner wall, is a small kitchen area with a grey stove, half-sized refrigerator and two foot wide counter for cooking, and the dishes being cleaned in the bathroom on the maintenance bench usually or in the kitchen in the cafeteria. **

**Directly across from the door is a computer desk, with writing utensils and papers ready, and with two long book-cases along both sides to the right and left under the windows and filling the walls, leaving room for the closet on the far left and the bathroom door on the far right. The walls are painted a sky blue, resembling the open sky, because of the Warriors of the Sun's love of light and sky.**

**End of Description. **

**The Mask:**

**Look up Kakashi's Mask, the lower half is very similar to the one he wears. His, however, hugs his face and tucks up to past the ears, allowing them to slip out through two holes on the side. This leaves his eyes visible, but nothing else aside from his forehead. **


	5. A Gift

(A/N: So my re-writes seem to be an improvement, a fact that I can't begin to explain how much I enjoy, and people seem to like them even if they preferred the actual events of the old versions better. I'll try and maintain some consistency with my writing, something I oft find difficult because I read Fanfictions as well, and my style can be 'infected' by other styles of writing. So, if it changes a bit here or there, I do apologize but you hath been warned!

Now, as a reviewer by the name of Grave Digger suggested that it may be interesting to view Zanmei's actions and personality from an exterior view point. So, I need a few people to be suggested as viewpoints. For example, Glynda when he's studying, Ruby perhaps when he's hanging out with his friends, and so on. Third person is also an acceptable one to see, and may come up at times.

This chapter will be an experiment of sorts, from Ozpin's perspective on events while talking to Glynda. It will be rather short, but I intend to have each chapter told from one perspective which will be announced at the beginning of each chapter after any A/Ns. It will be in bold and italics. In this manner, reading the A/Ns won't be a requirement to read the story.

Now, as a quick note before we get started, Grave Digger also pointed out a small issue with my character's head's description. So I'll go into some detail here about his face, helmet and mask. Sorry for this if you miss it.

In combat, he wears the full set of Berenike Armor forged from Black Iron and retrieved in Anor Londo from the presumed corpse of Black Iron Tarkus. This does include the helmet, which covers the eyes and sides of the head and face. You can easily look it up with Google. To cover the lower half of his face he wears a thick black cloth which covers his mouth, nose and keeps the worst of his scars out of view.

When not in combat uniform, he will wear the school uniform with his black mask to hide the scars, leaving only his eyes visible along with the tapering edges of his scars past the brow, covered by dark bangs. His hair is kept short, excepting his bangs which cover the scarring further which are held back by the helmet. Black eyes, black hair and pale skin are his facial features, his face itself being rather angular.

Thanks for reading, stay Twisted. And you especially, Grave Digger, have my thanks. Literally half this A/N is because of you and this chapter is shaped as is by you.

End A/N.

Re-Write A/N: Thanks to a reviewer by the name of Silver Storm, I have previously deleted, modified and am re-uploading this. Enjoy, and thanks Silver.

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_(Third Person, Ozpin's Personal Quarters)_

Every member of the faculty at Beacon has personal quarters on the Academy's grounds unless they opt to instead live off-campus. Ozpin's room is housed with the others, in the central spire of the Academy. Also like the others, excepting Port who lived off-campus, his room was uniform. A one bedroom, one bathroom apartment style house with a full range of kitchen, clothing washing and weapon maintenance rooms. Ozpin's is on the upper-most floor, just below his office. His apartment features a special, extra room converted from his weapon maintenance room. It's a small-ish room, usually used for just maintaining small weapons, painted red with the three interior walls emblazoned with the symbol of the 'Warriors of Sunlight', a large, beautiful sun. A statue, hand-carved by Ozpin himself from solid marble, depicting lord Gwynn with lightning-bolt in hand rested on the floor and at its height, touched the ceiling.

When Glynda entered his apartment, he was kneeling before the statue with his sunlight medal gripped between his two hands, thanking Gwynn for returning his brother to him after these long years. Glynda, to her credit, waited patiently and quietly by the door for several minutes for him to finish before he finally stood up, backing from the room without ever insulting the statue by turning his back to it, something that his Order considered a great sin.

He and Glynda had been together for some time now, a few years in fact, and to this day Glynda didn't understand his faith. He had tried explaining it many times but as he was merely a Paladin, meant to defend the priests and clerics, he had only really studied combat and the basics of his faith. Even his prayers with Zan in the past had been informal ones, where he mostly made up things as he went.

He looked at Glynda with a small smile and nod, before they started to set his table for dinner. Nothing incredibly out there or fancy, just some spaghetti and bread. Glynda hated overly fanciful foods and dinners, despite her enjoyment of fine wines like the Atlesian 343 he had flown in for her. She was a prudent, smart woman but every Hunter, despite their nature, has a vice. Ozpin's was coffee, Port's was stories, Oobleck's was also coffee.. and Glynda loved wines. Every now and again, he'd see her glance at the bottle on his counter lustfully before going back to laying out the plates and dishes.

Needless to say, Ozpin had a mug of coffee for himself, despite eating pasta. He didn't care, he loved his coffee. And the extra tidbit from his little silver flask didn't hurt either.

"So, what is the actual plan regarding Zanmei?" Glynda asked him happily, sipping at the sweet wine he'd bought her," You never act without a plan, after all."

"I act without a plan sometimes. Rarely, but I still do it on rare occasion." Ozpin corrected her with a smile, delighting in the slightly annoyed huff he received. To anyone else, that was a sign of annoyance. To him, it was one of affection and humor. "But in this instance, yes I have a plan. No doubt, tonight he is reading the books I had prepared ahead of time for him so the day after tomorrow you will begin tutoring him, like I mentioned, in the necessary things. Perhaps start with a quiz of sorts? I leave that up to you, but take your time."

"I will. So, tell me what I can expect from him." She inquired quickly, already on her second glass of wine. As a Huntress, it was far harder to intoxicate her though so Ozpin knew he at least had another two glasses before he would have an issue with keeping her attention, three if she ate a lot of pasta.

"He's smart and hardworking, so if you take time to bridge the whole mute gap it should go swimmingly. Maybe have Miss Belladonna sit in as a translator, she can read his signs. Start with weapons and military history, he loves that stuff. Miss Rose may be of help there as well as perhaps Miss Schnee and Mister Lie Ren or Miss Nikos." Ozpin explained, eating sparsely while he talked and Glynda munched his pasts, something she rather enjoyed.

"You are recommending First Years? Is he going to be one?" Glynda asked with some genuine surprise, which increased when he nodded," May I ask why? If he is as potent in combat as you say, shouldn't he be out there fighting Grimm?"

"That young man has spent thousands of years doing nothing but killing, fighting and sitting all alone in a cell. He has always struggled with basic human interaction and understanding even the most basic things about people." Ozpin grimaced slightly at the thought of his friend's past," He needs a time of peace to make friends as much as he deserves it ,that is to say in spades."

"I understand. He wouldn't work well with any teams, so sending him out there even with proper understanding of the world would be….. problematic at the least." She added, nodding easily and filling her third glass.

"Thank you for understanding, my dear, it means a lot to me to have your help in this." Ozpin said quietly, smiling at her happily.

"Getting sappy already, Ozpin? It's only my third glass." Glynda, however, smiled lightly at him and he in turn smiled at her teasing.

"So, I got you a gift." He said quietly, pulling a small box out of his jacket. Inside was small-ish, round, white amulet that Glynda happily accepted. "I know I don't usually get you presents, but this one is an exception I hope."

"Yes, it very much is," she smiled happily at the necklace, sitting it by her plate," Care to see how much I appreciate it?" She winked, leading him to his bedroom for dessert, despite their unfinished dinner.

_( Outer Mistral, third person)_

The Police Chief grimaced, looking at the files one of his detectives had given him. Yet another squad of Hunters dead, cut to pieces by whatever was wandering in that cursed forest. This was the fifth that month, all killed to the man and with little signs of an enemy having any trouble. This particular team had been experienced and well trained, specifically chosen for that very reason. They simply couldn't afford this, but they had also lost a hundred Mistral military personnel to the same task and couldn't afford anything less than a Hunter squad. Next would be a team of elite veterans, maybe THEY would stand a chance.

"Poor sods," he grumbled, signing off on the request form and moving on to the next file, a recent rise in White Fang activity in every kingdom," Back to work, I suppose."

The days went on normally, for him at least. But that would change very, very soon indeed. For he had no clue the darkness that had set its sights upon his beloved kingdom. Nor did the world know what would soon befall it.


	6. The Initiation, Part I: The Flower

(Ozpin's Office, Third Person)

"No, Ozpin, he cannot attend that academy unless he takes and passes the Initiation just like any student." Glynda scolded lightly, checking over the Council's orders regarding Zan. They disliked that another Undead existed, and Ozpin only told THEM because he had to. Luckily, they knew they couldn't beat Zan anymore than they could beat Ozpin, and decided to let him alone for now. "Their orders are, I'm afraid, final."

"He can handle the forest, Glynda. I just dislike it." Ozpin sighed heavily, sipping his coffee habitually like normal," I just don't want him to have to fight all the damn time." He smiled lightly when Glynda blinked in surprise at his cursing, something Ozpin avoided when with her as she disliked it. "Sorry, I didn't mean to swear, my dear."

"It's alright, I'll forgive it for….. extenuating circumstances." She smiled at him," So when should we have the initiation?" She asked him seriously, slipping into her administrative mode," I recommend doing so as soon as possible, to avoid the Council taking issue."

"Yes… I'll send him a message. We'll do it tomorrow. Maybe we should send him with a partner though." Ozpin said to his young blonde lover," Who is he friends with?"

"Miss Rose and he are friends, I believe. She would also compliment his fighting style rather well." Ozpin nodded, smiling widely. At least he was making friends already.

"Good. The two of them will be dropped off by Bullhead at the ruins tomorrow, and tasked with traveling to Beacon's gate. Should take a few days, and satisfy the Council's idea of a test." Ozpin nodded, and Glynda left him standing on his balcony, looking at the sky as it darkened," Forgive me, brother, for putting you out there so soon already." He sighed, sending his friend a message summarizing the events and the result. His response was, while a slightly upset one at putting Ruby at risk needlessly in his eyes, better than he felt he deserved.

(Zanmei, Beacon Landing Pads, 7:00 a.m. the next day, First person)

I was waiting, somewhat angry with the current situation, by one of the accursed flying machines. Fully armored and prepared, I'd been there some time earlier than Ruby who had been later than me because she had packed a full stock of food, water and first aid gear into a black back-pack on her back.

"Hi!" She said cheerily, offering me a small metal cylinder," Coffee? It'll wake ya up." She had another strapped to her hip, so I assumed she had also had some and, turning so she wouldn't see my face, I took a few sips. It was warm and sweet, very sweet in fact, and I rather enjoyed it. A few minutes later, we piled into the metal machine and I sat down next to the door, across from Ruby, and did my best to ignore the shifting of the damndable metal bird.

"Still don't like flying, huh?" She asked quietly from across from me, and I nodded and tightened the grip on my sword, adjusting my armor subconsciously. "Well, just…. I dunno, try to not think about it?" I nodded simply, thinking for a moment. Then I gestured at her scythe, my question hopefully coming through clear enough. "What, you wanna know about Crescent Rose?" I nodded simply again, gesturing for her to talk.

"Uh, well, it's a long range sniper rifle that mecha-shifts into a ballistic scythe. I'm really good with it too," She smiled happily, lifting it up and holding it out, allowing it to 'mecha-shift' across the interior of the ship, taking up a lot of the space. "Pretty cool, huh?" I nodded appreciatively, smiling behind my mask. Then her eyes narrowed at my chest slightly, and she pointed," What's that?"

Looking down, I saw my notebook was poking out of the small bag I carried strapped to my hip on the belt. I pulled the small, plain black notebook out of his pack and looked at it calmly, hesitating to show the younger girl. She pouted, lips pushed forward with watery, pleading eyes and I just fell apart, thrusting the book out towards her instantly with my head bowed. 'What just happened?'

"Hah! Always works!" She cheered, taking the book and flipping to a page. She paused, staring at the small book with surprise. "…Flowers?" She asked me innocently, looking at me oddly. "You draw…. Flowers?" I nodded quietly, rubbing the back of my neck nervously. "That's cool." She went back to the notebook, her frank statement surprising me a bit. "Ooh, these are pretty good. I didn't know you could draw? I like it." She sat quietly after that for some time, flipping through my notebook casually with a bright, happy look on her face.

"I draw too, you know. Mostly people. And weapons. And Grimm. Okay, so I draw a lot of stuff…." She rambled a bit, and I nodded quietly, content to lean back and watch her look through my book. "But I don't recognize some of these. Do you prefer the exotics?"

I nodded again, taking the book from her gently and flipping to my favorite, in the back page. 'Vicaritus Varuim.' It was a long, white flower with dark red flecks and a bright red, sweet smelling center, which often grew with two flowers to each stem. The leaves were a darker green than normal, a fact I found made the brightly colored flower stand out even more so than normal, and its leaves were covered in thin, pale veins.

"Wow!" She stared at the drawing for a moment, smiling, before a look of realization crossed her features," Wait, I saw this in the forest during my initiation! I know where to find one, if it's still alive." My eyes shot open at the prospect, straightening in surprise. "We could… detour to get it. But last time I was there me and Weiss had to run. It was filled with Grimm…."

My face fell at that news, leaning back into the wall as we began to descend," But we can still go there if you want. I think we could do it, if I sneak in I can get you the flower and you could take it back with you. It's on the way too, not much of a detour." She smiled widely, standing up in the Bullhead," I'm stronger now than I was before. I drink milk!" I tilted my head to the side at that, as she gripped her right bicep with her left hand and smiled.

"Okay, kiddies, looks like we're about to be there. I'm seeing some Grimm there, so come out swingin'. Got it?" The pilot called, the doors starting to slide open and the chain-gun on the nose barking loudly as it fired into the forest to suppress the monsters.

"Got it, mister pilot!" Ruby said, leaping out of the Bullhead even before it had landed. I shook my head, following her out a moment later with my sword ready, after I put my book back in my bag of course.

When I landed, Ruby was bisecting a lightly armored Beowolf, chaining the hit into two more of them easily and sending them falling around her with splashes of crimson across the green ground before she leapt back to avoid a larger, much more armored 'Wolf. I closed the distance as it charged, deflecting the weight of it to my left side before thrusting cleanly through its gut, spilling even more blood across the soil.

I looked at Ruby, dealing with another assortment of the weaker underlings, before turning to my right and bisecting a charging one of my own easily. I pushed it away from me before grunting, having been jostled forward slightly by another of the Grimm slamming into my back, clambering across my shoulders for a soft spot. I stabbed over my shoulder, cutting its throat open easily and allowing it to collapse across my shield arm, letting it slump to the ground afterwards. A small pack, but still a pack, had already been felled. I smiled, looking at Ruby, and ignored the blood coating the ground as we walked into the forest. I didn't give a damn about the test or the blood.

I wanted my gods damned flower.


	7. The Initiation, Part II: A Light

(Zanmei, Somewhere in the Forest, First Person)

We'd travelled through the forest all day, headed south-east towards where Ruby said the flower was last seen, and had camped down for the night, the two of us gathering up sticks for a bit before Ruby collapsed onto her bed-roll, pulling her scythe around in front of her and releasing a round from the rifle's chamber. I knelt across from her, arranging the wood for a proper fire while I looked at her curiously.

"My Uncle Qrow, that's with a 'Q' by the way, taught me how to do this…. Ah!" She broke open the Dust laden round, sprinkling a little bit onto the wood before handing me the round, "Now go bury this away from the fire."

I did as she said, burying the small bullet behind a tree, and returned to see her sparking a pair of rocks together, lighting the wood quickly with a dull flash. I nodded, impressed pretty highly at her ingenuity.

"So, who's gonna take watch and who's gonna cook?" She asked quietly, arranging some rocks around the small-ish fire. I chuckled, shouldering my sword and turning my back to her to watch the forest. "I really wish you could talk…. This makes communication so much harder."

'I agree….' I thought with a low growl, touching my shield-hand to my throat sadly. I detested not being able to talk, and missed having the capability dearly. But nothing could be done, even Solaire had said so when I asked him if they could fix my voice.

I stood in silence for a few minutes, listening to the sounds of the forest, Ruby cooking and her humming as she did so. Occasionally, a noise off into the distance would catch my attention and I would snap towards it, reaching out with my soul to sense anything there. I couldn't put into words how a Grimm's soul felt which, contrary to popular belief, they did in fact have. It was heavy, dark and sad. Like a puppy lost in the rain. Only, instead of whining, or seeking love, it grew vicious, snarling in the dark ad lusting for blood. I could feel the darkness, feel the Dark, gnawing at me, tearing into my very soul, and trying to warp me.

"Zan!" I looked up, never realizing I had slumped to my knees breathing heavily, at Ruby's concerned face," Are you okay? You were just staring into space for, like, twenty minutes and then you collapsed and started wheezing!" I still felt the cold grip of the Dark on my soul, trying to gain leverage and warp me, and I stumbled to my feet towards the fire, pulling my gauntlet away and dropping it into the red leaves. "What are you-" I shoved my hand deep into the flames, feeling that familiar agony spread across me for a moment and shattering the Dark's grip and the young girl screamed in surprise. An instant later, she was yanking my hand out of the fire, glaring at me sternly," What the _hell _was that?!"

I lowered my vision, gently pulling my arm from the girl's grip, just glad to be free of the dark's grip on me, but sad I had, in my haste, scared my friend. She sighed at my silence, pointing at a tree near the fire," Sit against that, I'll take care of it."

I followed her instructions, suddenly afraid of the irate scythe wielder ever so slightly, and leaned against the tree heavily, my shield propping my left hand up and my sword left on the ground a few feet from me, easily within emergency reach at least. She knelt beside me, taking my badly burned right hand into her own gingerly as if I couldn't stand the extra pain, and applying a cold stinging cream to it," Honestly though, what the hell was that?" She looked up at me again, eyes piercing and worried. And I just looked away guiltily.

She couldn't know about me yet, nor my curse. Then I realized, my curse was on my right hand….

"What's this?" Ruby asked innocently, looking at the small circle," A tattoo?" Thinking quickly, I nodded rapidly, the sounds of chain clinking coming from my helmet. She looked at me suspiciously, eyes narrowing…..

"Okay!" She smiled, pulling a bandage from her pack and wrapping my hand up," So, your hand should be done healing tomorrow with your Aura." She turned serious for a moment, glaring at me heavily," And when we get back, you, me and Blake are going to have a talk about this little incident, you got it?" I nodded slightly, almost imperceptibly, and winced when she tightened the bandage suddenly. "Good! Now let's eat up!"

She wouldn't so much as let me move to get my own bowl of the soup she'd made, making me stay in my spot by the tree due to my hand. As if a burnt hand, already healed due to my being an Undead even, would hinder my walking. Still, she seemed worried so I just let her do as she wished. After we ate, me being careful to eat where she couldn't see my face, I watched her grab her scythe and walk into the woods," Now you're hurt, so I'll take watch. Rest up, I'll be back in a bit to let you have your shift." I nodded, still wary of further angering the young huntress, and leaned against the tree I had sat at to be treated earlier and allowed myself to still, my mind meditating and my soul reaching out into the world once more.

(Ozpin's office, Third person)

Ozpin sipped his evening coffee, sitting on a couch with Glynda, and watched the scene between the two students play out, smiling ever so slightly, so that Glynda had to ask. "What is it?"

"Nothing, my dear. Just me keeping a promise to a friend, even if I didn't realize I would be doing so earlier." He smiled even wider, "Plus, that was kawaii as fuck and you know it."

Glynda face palmed lightly, smiling," That's it, no more Youtube for you, headmaster." At his opened mouth, intent on protesting," And if you argue, I'll hide your coffee. Again." Ozpin smiled lightly, far happier than he had ever been in Lordran.

(Zanmei, First Person, The Forest)

The forest was beautiful, in a way only an Undead could understand. Everywhere I looked, souls lit up the world like a flare, or a raging fire. And the few places the light never reached were filled with the kind of darkness that would normally chill an Undead. But whenever I felt the Dark start to claw at me again, tearing at my very essence, I'd simply retreat from it and cling to Ruby's light until it receded.

Her brightness, a fire unmatched by any other I'd ever seen in my long, arduous life, and which I had found only a moment before, could banish the Dark from the darkness, removing the malignation from my mind's eye and allowing me to appreciate the shadows and how they complimented the light. It was truly beautiful, but I knew I'd have to keep that to myself.

A Warrior of the Sun could never love the darkness, it simply wasn't normal to do so. It was blasphemy, heresy and dangerous. I had, after all, seen such warriors fall to the temptations of the Dark. But surely, understanding it was beautiful didn't mean anything even if no normal person, Undead or otherwise, could think as such.

Good thing I wasn't normal.

A/N: So you guys, whatcha' think? I hope you like this chapter, and if anyone is mad I skipped the first day in the forest and there was no actual combat here... Just wait until next chapter, it'll be mostly combat.

Anyways, enjoy! Oh, and remember...

Stay Twisted!


	8. The Initiation, Part III: The Flower

(Zanmei, First person, In The Forest)

I winced as I dropped from a slight ridge, falling maybe five feet, and my armor rattled loudly. I loved the protection of the heavier plates but honestly, the damn chainmail was so noisy. We had started out the next morning, bright and early, hoping to cover as much ground as possible to the flower. Every few minutes, Ruby would stop and look at a rock, or a tree or something and point in a slightly different direction with a happy shout of 'That way!' and I'd chuckle, and follow her, my soul constantly feeling for any Dark around us, lest the Grimm catch us off guard. Oddly enough, we hadn't seen many more Grimm thus far today beyond a pair of Ursa and a lone Boarbatusk, both lots easily dispatched.

"Where are all the Grimm? I don't like this." Ruby seemed off-put by the lack of monsters, nervous and warier of her surroundings," This forest is full of Grimm, so why aren't they attacking?"

I shrugged easily, relaxed and smiling slightly. I knew we were safe, as I didn't sense anything near us, even if I couldn't tell her that. However, far in the distance ahead of us I could sense a massive amount of the Dark. It didn't bother me, as it wasn't coming towards us, but we WERE heading towards it. And that fact did bother me. I sincerely wished that Ruby could understand signing as we walked, so I could warn her. But the mass was an hour ahead at our pace, so I wasn't exactly distraught.

Then an three-quarters of an hour had passed, with us still on the same damned course, when Ruby turned to me," The Grimm were really heavy from here on in when I was last here, I think it's because the caves are this direction. We gotta' be extra careful from now on if we wanna get your flower."

I smiled thinly again at her, willing to fight a horde of Grimm for a flower because a friend wanted it. She reminded me of Solaire somewhat, in his earlier days. Kind and innocent, willing to help anyone who asked for it without so much as a second thought. It was dangerous, risky and naïve, but I still liked that trait about him back then. And she was much the same, and hopefully would be untainted by the same evils which had stricken Solaire so many times.

"Okay, I can see some Ursa. And a bunch of Beowolves. You take the Ursa and I'll handle the 'Wolves?" I nodded simply when she looked up at me brightly, smiling happily as if she wasn't talking about fighting a group of at least thirty Grimm. May as well have been saying she was going to the damn store, as calm as she looked. "'Kay, let's go!"

And with that, she unfurled Crescent Rose and shot off into the group, and I followed behind like a slow, giant turtle. She shot past the Ursa, engaging the pack of 'Wolves at the far end of the clearing while I engaged the ten Ursa, Ursa Majors now I could see them closer. I smiled at the bulky enemies, watching them lumber towards me slowly, and took my ready stance, shield locked in front of me with my sword lowered almost to touching the ground, left foot forward and leaning slight into my shield. The first Ursa's claw slammed into my shield, all its weight behind the blow, and I angled the shield slightly, deflecting it away as I stepped past it, lunging forward into a second Ursa's stomach, yanking the blade out and stepping back as it collapsed, brackish blood flowing from it freely as it growled and toppled. A quick stab into the rising Ursa at my side's head ended it as well. These poor bastards didn't quite know how to use their weight right it seemed.

A third and fourth Ursa rushed at me clumsily, the first choking on its own blood when I slammed the rim along the top of my shield into its exposed flesh, collapsing with a wheeze behind me as my sword cleaved up, through its backup's own throat and I turned, checking on Ruby who was easily slicing, smashing and shooting her own opponents. She paused for a second to wave at me, smiling in spite of the blood lightly staining her leggings, and I waved back with my sword, chaining the wave into a downward slash, severing a less armored Ursa's arm and catching another claw on my shield. I stabbed across, into the chest of the monster along my shield before smashing the disarmed Ursa's throat in and letting it fall away. Another Ursa, angered by its fellow's deaths, charged at me and I side-stepped, hamstringing the beast and letting it fall to my side. It turned to roar at me, and my boot crushed its skull with a dull crunch. Two more rushed my open right side, assuming that I couldn't defend easily without my shield, and I back-stepped one, my blade sinking deep into the second, using the charge's momentum to pierce its hide.

Unfortunately, the other Ursa chose that moment to slam into me heavily, knocking my grip on my great-sword loose and carrying me to back as I held its weight on my shield, gripping and drawing my straight-sword fluidly, which bit into its stomach with several fast, deep stabs until it fell, dark blood covering my arm, and both sword and blade. The final Ursa, far more massive than the first, stomped toward me with a low growl, armor plates coating its limbs and back with spikes and thick, pale armor. It stood easily three feet above me, swinging its arm like a spiked maul into my shield, making my arm sting and go numb and tossing me back a few inches.

I swung down, my blade sinking deeply into its plate but my swing lacking the force to actually pierce it, and stumbled back from the beast, smiling at the challenge. A second club-like swing against my shield pushed me back another two inches, wincing as it suddenly gripped my shield with its claws, yanking it downwards and slamming a pummeling blow into my right shoulder outright ignoring my own blade sinking into its chest when I counter-stabbed. I gasped when my shoulder let out a sickening, wet crunch as the bone slipped from its joint, dropping loosely by my side and leaving the sword in its chest. I dropped my shield, backing away from the monster quickly, and raised my fist.

The monster growled, lunging at me heavily and I intercepted it with a boot to its jaw, stunning it and sending it to my side, sliding in the dirt, before leaping up, and slamming my full weight into its back with my own, hearing my blade sliding through flesh with a wet cutting sound, muted slightly by the thick muscles and flesh. It threw me off, rising with a slight stumble, before turning to me. My blade had hit something dire it seemed, blood leaking from the Grimm's mouth as it turned to me. I was exhausted and in pain, arm hanging limply and mask half-way off my face and it was bleeding internally, my blade having bit deep into it when it fell. As it lunged I smashed my fist into the left side of its head, fracturing the bony armor and sending it rolling to its back, stunned. I took the opportunity to grab the handle of my sword, yanking it out and slicing into its throat, severing the head entirely and watching it roll away.

"Dust damn it, are you hurt again?" Ruby half screamed at me, stomping toward me with Crescent Rose in her off hand, collapsing it and placing it on her back," Honestly, do you get hurt all the time or what?" I nodded and she sighed, waving her hands exaggeratedly, "That's bad!" I just shrugged again, wiping my straight-sword on the last Ursa's pelt and sheathing it awkwardly with my left hand. "Come here," she said, pointing at another Ursa's corpse," Sit down, I'll fix it for you." I dis as she instructed, collecting my shield on the way and leaning it against the side of the beast. "Take the armor off so I can do it," I hesitated, not sure if I should do as she asked before she gave me the damned pout again and I unlatched the shoulder plate, allowing it and the chainmail to slide down my arm to my elbow. She took a moment to look at the patchwork of scars from blades and burns of all kinds across my skin before sliding my arm onto her shoulder," Hold still, okay? And push against me….. now." I did as she said, feeling the bones snap back into place painfully.

"You get hurt a lot, huh?" She asked quietly, watching me slide the chainmail and plates back into their right places, locking them and rolling my shoulder experimentally. I simply nodded at her question and she sighed loudly," Well, that's a bummer. What good is your armor if you still get hurt?" I just stared at her levelly and she shook her head," Let's go get your flower. Should be…. There!" She pointed at a large tree on the far side of the clearing, flashing to it with her semblance and looking around," Here it is!"

I ignored my throbbing arm and jogged over to her, collecting my great-sword on the way, and smiled at the small, still-young, plant before pulling my straight-sword out and digging with it, by the plant's side. The young huntress behind me just watched quietly, and I smiled widely when I spotted an entire cluster with dozens of the small seeds and slid to the side, showing Ruby what I had found.

"Seeds?" I nodded and she smiled lightly, smelling the heady aroma of the flower for a minute," You wanna take 'em with us? They smell really nice." I nodded again and she pulled out the plastic bag that had housed her stash of cookies last night, empty now, and I pulled most of the cluster off the plant, gingerly dropping them into the bag and handing it back to the girl who slid it safely into a pouch on her back-pack," Now then, let's get to the Academy and pass your test!"

She smiled at me brightly, blood staining her clothes in splotches here and there, and I smiled back before she took off, into the forest towards Beacon. No one had ever helped me collect seeds before, and I made a note to thank her later with one of the flowers when it bloomed. She did seem to like the sweet smell after all, and I remembered in my youth that it was a way people would thank each other.


	9. The Initiation, Part IV : The Calm

(Ozpin Cane, Ozpin's Office, Third Person)

Ozpin glared at the middle-aged man in front of him, angry and worried in equal measure at the picture sitting on his desk. He reached across the desk, his fingers trembling ever so slightly, and pressed two buttons. One which paged Glynda, sending her an immediate order to come to his office. The second button, a button not touched for years, alerted all faculty that a code yellow alert was in effect, meaning all classes would be cancelled, security mechs from Atlas deployed on the perimeter wall, and all teachers and students moved to an alert status, as well as being confined to the campus. The reason for this action?

Sitting on his table, frozen in the crisp still life of a digital picture, was an army of Grimm in Forever Falls. And it was on the march, headed straight for Beacon. At this rate, he had two days until they got hit. Glynda threw the door open, half out of breath and panting, and half walked half jogged to his desk.

Ozpin raised a hand to silence her, frowning slightly which, on his face, may as well have been a scowl," I want you, personally, to go and get Zanmei and Miss Rose out of the forest. I will oversee the defenses and explain what is happening to the students."

"Yes, headmaster," she said coolly, rushing from the room once more. She knew Ozpin well enough to know that if he was calling an alert and asking her to personally do something, it was damned important. Her interrogations of what the alert was about could wait, besides. He'd already forward her a report. Rising steadily, leaving his cane on his desk, the headmaster of Beacon, heralded as one of the best and brightest Vale had ever known, walked to a corner closet and pressed a series of buttons into a small touch pad. Inside was a chest, which he dragged into the main office and opened.

Inside THAT….. was a cloth bundle, holding something he had not so much as looked at in centuries. He grimaced, pulling the cloth out and setting the moderately heavy bundle on his desk. Unfurling it he smiled subtly, as the silver chains gleamed up at him….. Ozpin was the leader. Solaire of Astora was the warrior. And he was preparing his students for war. A war he would lead, like he'd seen his beloved brother lead.

From the front.

(Two Hours Later, Zanmei Taiyang)

"Hey Zan?" I looked over at Ruby, biting her lower lip and holding her right arm nervously," Could we…. Take a break?" The fight had been rough, I supposed, especially for a lower endurance, speed based fighter like herself. "I just… My leg really hurts." Ah, so she was injured. Slightly annoyed, I nodded and she plopped down on a log beside me, rubbing her right knee gently. "Sorry, I just stumbled a bit in that fight, strained my knee a bit. Just need a few minutes for my Aura to heal it."

I shook my head gently, pointing up at the darkening sky, signaling as best I could that it was getting dark and we needed to camp down for the night, not keep moving. She nodded with a slight 'ah' sound and I stabbed my sword into the ground deeply, leaving it and my shield with the girl while I gathered up whatever tinder and wood I could find.

I quickly gathered all I needed and returned to the small clearing, small enough I could easily reach out and touch trees on either end. That said, I was at least two feet taller than the petite red-head I was traveling with* in my armor, give or take, so it was much roomier for her. I left her to light the fire again, looking around the clearing at the many fallen limbs in the forest around it and gathering them up, piling them up to make a makeshift wall around part of it, blocking off the wind and helping keep the heat in for my young friend. It was a trick Solaire and I had learned a long time ago, and which helped us survive many cold nights.

Ruby simply watched me work while she cooked a bowl of soup, the components for it coming from her pack as part of her camping gear, her legs tucked up against her chest and smiling thinly," So I guess your arm is better now?" I nodded to her, allowing myself to plop down across the fire from her," So, you get hurt a lot then?" Another nod, gesturing at my shoulder and shrugging. "Well, I can't say I like it, but Yang does kinda the same stuff. Just…. As long as you're careful, I don't mind ya know? So be careful, got it?" I chuckled internally at her attempt at a stern face, nodding at her with a calming wave.

She nodded, smiling brightly again, and handed me one of the small silver bowls with half the soup from the black pot in it, before filling her own bowl and setting the pot to the side of the fire, inside towards it to help it dry. I looked at her calmly as she ate, my mask still in place and so my food was untouched before she looked up at me and I smiled behind my mask, reaching up and hesitantly unlatching my helmet which I sat beside me, and unhooked my mask, letting it hang around my neck easily while I ate. I looked at her after a few bites, anxious at allowing someone other than Solaire to see me un-masked and smiled awkwardly.

"Ya know, your face isn't that bad. I've seen much worse," she smiled, actually smiled at me, despite my scarred and battered face," But I get you hiding them. Thanks for showing me." I nodded, and we ate quietly for a few minutes before she spoke up again," So, umm, is your throat like that too? S'that why you can't speak?" I nodded, making a slashing motion across my throat to demonstrate," Ouch, you had it cut? How'd you survive?" I simply shrugged, as I couldn't very well tell her about being an Undead. "Well, I think it's kinda, what would Yang say?... Oh! It's kinda bad ass!" She smiled widely again at her words, before digging into her soup like a starving man and laying out beside the fire. "Whelp! I'm sleepy! Gnite, big guy. "

Exhausted, I leaned my had back against the tree I was sitting against, my great-sword within easy reach if I should need it and reached out with my soul again, looking around for any signs of the Dark. The nearest masses were days away even at speed, so I relaxed, receding back into our little pseudo-enclosure, and allowing the warmth of Ruby's soul to lull me into a calm rest. She was so kind and sweet, that her soul was the purest I had ever viewed. And that reflected in a soul so bright, even Lord Gwynn would have had trouble looking at it.

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Author Notes:

Academy Defenses : Academies for training Hunters are, obviously, common throughout Remnant. The more prestigious academies are known for their surviving separately from cities, walled off in the Wilderness. Beacon is one such example, requiring a thirty minute Bullhead transport from the capital of Vale. Such academies often have military grade mechs on hand for defense if the Grimm attack, or if Vale itself is attacked. They are often used in field training as well, to help students grow accustomed to working beside the mechanized units.

Zamei Taiyang stands at a similar height to Yatsuhashi, actually coming I an inch shorter at six feet nine inches and weighs in at almost three hundred pounds, mostly muscle and bone as Undead don't need food and thus don't often get much fat.


	10. The Storm, Part I : Preperations

(A/N: So, I wanted to go over a few things, just to sort of establish exactly how my character looks, and behaves.

As some may have figured out, he isn't good with people. At all. He was locked away in the Asylum for centuries, alone, and with no one to speak to. As a result, he is a bit awkward. He was alone so long he doesn't understand social interactions, and isn't good at judging emotions either so he can often anger someone and not even be aware, or not understand why someone is acting a certain way. For example, he won't understand certain behaviors. Jealousy, for instance, is something he can't understand. In Lordran, the Jealous attacked him and died, he was never taught what it was and what little he was taught as a child he can't adequately remember.

He is pale skinned, due to centuries wearing full plate armor which covered his skin for so long, coupled with his time in the Asylum itself. His hair is black/dark brown, his eyes are black with a faint redness common to Undead and his entire body is covered in pock marking, crisscrossing scars from centuries of near-constant fighting.

As such, he is withdrawn and shy, not understanding his own embarrassment over his marred body. This coupled with his muteness makes him seem unapproachable.

His armor is the Black Iron set for the chest, arms and legs, with the Steel helmet on his head as he preferred the slightly lighter armor there, to allow a greater range of motion and breathing. He wields the Black Iron Great-Shield with the Berenike Great-Sword, preferring its maneuverability to the Black Iron Tarkus Sword he recovered, and carries the Astora Straight-Sword as a secondary weapon.

His combat style shifts depending on his opponent. For smaller enemies he prefers to deflect them and follow up with an attack, usually deflecting a blow harmlessly to the side and stabbing them. This can be seen in the fight with the Ursa. Larger opponents who would be less likely to fall over after a deflection he prefers to just bear through, taking hits on his shield or armor and countering with a heavy, crushing blow that few enemies can survive fit enough to combat him further. An example of this fighting style is seen against the Death Stalker.

During combat with new enemies, he is wont to take stupid moves and risks, making mistakes which would kill any other person, and ends up injured often, also as seen in the fight with the Ursa.

Like most Undead, he can sense souls and Humanity in people and things, and often uses that to judge people. A person with a bright, shining, innocent soul is less likely to be a danger than someone with a marred, twisted, black soul for instance, and he often enjoys the 'warmth' coming from a pure, innocent soul. Often, he will get protective over such beings, fighting for them and being willing to die or kill for them. This is seen starting to grow during the last few chapters with Ruby, her kindness to him and bright, warm soul endearing her to him quickly. At this point, he'd gladly help her with most any task she asked of him.

Now for another topic about his past, as a Warrior of Sunlight. Few realize this but the Sunbros IS a religious group. That little 'Praise the Sun' thing is actually a religious idea, literally praising the sun and, by extension, revering Gwynn. You see it a bit with Ozpin/Solaire having a shrine in his place, where he actively prays and worships the sun and Gwynn there. Zanmei is a Warrior of the Sun, despite having lost faith in Gwynn himself, and truly does revere the sun as a life giving force, as reflected even in chapter One where he simply looked at the sky and sun for a day, waiting for something to happen.

I'm very not religious, but I know enough about religions to hopefully build a reasonable practice for Zanmei and Ozpin, BUT help in that would be appreciated greatly.

The last chapter featured two scenes that actually occurred at different times. The scene between Zan and Ruby took place at dusk, and they slept overnight. The scene with Ozpin occurred around two or three hours past dusk, at around ten at night, and Glynda needed time to track the two down in the forest.

Holy dick waffles, bat man, this had been a long ass A/N….

Sorry 'bout that, anyways. Stay Twisted, guys.

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(Ozpin's Office, Third Person)

Ozpin had been up the entire night, not a physical issue as he was an Undead even if he did miss having Glynda cuddle up to him, cleaning, repairing and polishing his arms and armor, preparing it for the combat it would see soon enough. He'd long ago incorporated more modern equipment into his armaments along with his classic equipment.

He now carried a long, white colored revolver, capable of firing Red dust incendiary and armor piercing round, with an ivory colored handle and a singular black line running parallel down both sides of the barrel. His helmet was outfitted with a long-range communication unit, capable of maintaining a signal up to three miles away depending on weather and elevation, as well as an extra layer of padded insulation specially made to maintain a regular body temperature despite harsh conditions. His shield was reinforced with a Dust powered shock absorption device, a small battery just above the handle the only sign of this, meaning he could take much more massive blows without his arm shattering or him being tossed aside. The only aspect of his arms or armor left as they were was his blade, which he had deemed too sacred to ever warp with any technology. If needed, he'd rather replace it than change it.

He had carried that blade ever since he became an Acolyte of the Way, and it had carried him through some of the gravest, most intense, and grueling battles he had ever known. The Forgesmiths taught him that a blade was an extension of your very soul, and the Clerics taught him that the soul was precious. So truly, he believes the sword to be as precious as any part of himself and always cleaned it well after every battle, running through a full list of maintenance despite the nature of the battle. When he came to this world, he discovered that most of those who lived here named their weapons. So he too had named his sword and shield, Sonne and Shicksal respectively, meaning 'Sun' and 'Fate'. They were his pride and joy, besides his beloved students and academy of course, and only one actual entity was past it in importance, not that he'd ever say that.

He had killed all manner of beast with the duo, Grimm and Hollow alike, as well as true demons and even a dragon, though Zanmei had struck the true blow to killed the bastard known as Seath, ending the torment of those poor maidens he had so often kidnapped and warped in his perversion called 'science'.

A beep drew his attention, turning from his gear which was laid out across his desk intermixed with tools and cloths for maintenance, and he walked over to the small metal digital communicator, checking the message. It was from Glynda, telling me they had located Zanmei and Ruby and would be picking them up soon, and returning as soon as possible. He sent her a brief thank you, smiling slightly in spite of himself, and requesting that she have Zanmei come to his office immediately, and to send Ruby to rest in preparation for what was coming.

She sent an affirmation and, maintenance finished, he began going over their defense plans, sending a message to James to ask for any assistance he could spare, and set about planning their defense against the Grimm. Beacon had never fallen, and he'd go Hollow before he saw that change for a few lowly Grimm.

(Zanmei, First Person, the Southern Edge of the Forest)

We'd traveled barely an hour when we reached the flats with Beacon well within view that extended to the south towards the capital of Vale, though the flats were easily a two hour walk from the forest itself as the distance between Beacon and the forest was barely a mile or two, not even worth noting for Hunters. On three sides, North, East and West, Beacon was surrounded by tall cliffs, with a steep hill leading downwards to the flats.

But we'd stopped there, seeing the trio of Bullheads lumbering towards us heavily. Two circled past, overhead, and held positions defensively I a circle while the last landed, the ramp swinging open to reveal Glynda Goodwitch standing there sternly, glowering at us lightly, before walking out the door of the gun-ship. "Your initiation is over, Zanmei, you passed. Something has come up, so get in and we'll be leaving now." She gave no room for argument or question, simply walking back into the Bullhead silently.

"Oooo-kay then." Ruby said slowly, clearly surprised at the sudden and abrupt end to their journey. She smiled brightly up at me again," 'Least you passed though, right?" I nodded, and followed the spritely girl up the ramp and into the blasted machine, bracing against the sides, fingers clutching shield and sword tightly as Ruby sat next to me, and Glynda sat across the seating area, away from us.

Seeing my anxiousness, Ruby looked at me worriedly for a second before scooting closer to me," Uh, if it'll help and you promise to not squish it, you can hold my hand. If you want, I mean." I nodded hesitantly, and the girl held my hand…. Well, she held my index and middle finger as my hand was a bit too large for her to actually hold. She smiled up at me slightly, and I felt myself relax, leaning back against the metal interior," Better?" I nodded easily, genuinely more relaxed. The girl couldn't have known that the contact allowed me to feel her soul's relaxing brightness and warmth, but that didn't negate the help it imparted.

"Did you fare well in the forest?" Glynda asked quietly from the far end of the hold, smiling wanly and sending a message from her scroll. "You two seem unharmed, at least."

"It was okay, I guess. Though Mr. Tin Man here," she scowled cutely at me, face scrunching in her best attempt at anger," Got busted up against some Grimm yesterday to get some rare flower seeds."

"Flower seeds?" Glynda asked disbelievingly, and Ruby just nodded easily, fishing the bag of seeds from her pack and showing the disciplinarian. "I…. see. Was this really necessary?" I nodded avidly, smiling behind my cloth mask.

"It's a REALLY pretty flower." Ruby said honestly, as if that would explain to the woman why I had knowingly attacked a group of Grimm for flower seeds. "Honestly, it wasn't a hard fight, even though SOME people got hurt, so it's no big deal."

"Well, I suppose it IS your job to kill Grimm." The woman admitted with a slight shrug, "Still, be more careful henceforth." I nodded simply, though I felt she knew as I did that that simply wouldn't happen. "When we get to Beacon, you are to report to the Headmaster's office immediately. Miss Rose, you are to report for a medical check-up due to your mission's nature, then to your dorm for rest."

"Yes, ma'am!" Ruby smiled, saluting childishly as she said that and I nodded silently, wondering what had spurred our retrieval. The young girl seemed to sense this, perhaps I was too close to her own soul and my ideas were infecting her mind, as she asked," So why'd you come get us? I thought we were supposed to walk to Beacon itself, not to the edge of the forest."

"Something came up, Miss Rose, and you'll get the details just as soon as the other students do. Zanmei is a personal friend and ally of Ozpin, and as such Ozpin has elected to consult him on a few things before others hear of it." Glynda seemed to be almost scolding her and I growled at her lowly, the base noise causing a sharp pain in my throat as I narrowed my gaze at her. "Uh, that said, it is good of you to ask, you should be careful to seek such information out."

Ruby seemed to sense the tension coming from me, and squeezed my fingers gently to get my attention," Hey it's fine. I asked a question and she answered it as best she can. I'm a Huntress, I can't expect my superiors to always tell me everything and anything all the time." I nodded, leaning back and relaxing slightly. She looked up at me, head cocked to the side, before we felt the air-ship shudder slightly, landing on the academy's landing pad. "Oh! I'll drop your seeds off in your room for you, by the way."

We walked out of the air-ship quickly, Ruby waving goodbye to me and jogging off towards the dorms passing students and what appeared mechanical soldiers carrying supplies, mainly ammunition and basic first aid, up onto the walls. Behind us, air-ships came and went with students, armed and ready for a mission or returning from one, as well as men and women wearing chainmail and carrying a range of rifles, spears and the occasional sword, mace or the far more common axe. Their armors were emblazoned with the Vale kingdom symbol, two crossed axes over a wreath on black.

Whatever was actually coming seemed like it would be big.

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Kingdom Military Forces: Kingdoms are unique in many ways, from culture and governance, to economy and military. Each Kingdom has its own military style.

The Atlesian military is well known for its rigid adherence to one of two fighting ranges at all times. Either its soldiers wield heavy arms and armor, or they wear little if any armor and use elegant attacks to fight. Few, if any, are known to have ever used a combination and the act is in fact frowned upon.

The Atlesian military uses three branches, the Mechs, the Rangers and the Knights.

• Knights: The branch known as the Knight branch uses heavily armored soldiers wielding shields and swords typically, as well as large, heavy rifles and shotguns.

• Rangers : Rangers prefer the use of rapiers and long-ranged attacks. Rapiers and spears are well known melee weapons, with sniper rifles, marksmen rifles and in rarer cases, Dust Glyphs to attack.

• Mechs: Paladin Mechs are a member of the Mech division, as well as other autonomous droids used to bolster numbers. These droids fall into three types, the heavy, piloted, Paladins, the heavily armed and well programmed Type Two Droid, and the poorly programmed and equipped Type One Droids.

Vale : Vale's military is made up of mostly hunters and huntresses, owing to the massive numbers of Academies present there and as such the scores of Hunters, bolstered by light infantry preferring polearms and rifles, with only one division of military existing which uses both. It bolsters its strength with purchased mechs from Atlas.

Mistral : Mistral prefers using flesh and blood fighters, rarely using droids for anything combat related. Their military is based around heavy armored combatants in tight formations, essentially based around Greek styled combatants using hoplite styled formations and combatants.

Vacuo : Vacuo uses levied troops led by well-trained aristocrats and nobles, typically consisting of lightly armored levies and heavily armored knights. They use a mixture of bows, crossbows and rifles for ranged combat and prefer speedy attacks to holding tactics. Levied units often bring their own weapons and sometimes even equipment, and Knights tend to use heirlooms and the best armor or weapons available on the market.

So sorry guys for the A/Ns, both for being long, I just wanted to set stuff up.


	11. Prelude to War

(A/N : Heyooo guys! So, this chapter will mostly be planning for the battle followed by NEXT chapter's battle, then a few chapters to recover. This will conclude what I'm calling the 'Welcome to Remnant' arc as a result, I am asking you guys for suggestions. Just toss ideas at the wall that is my head and see if something sticks like a bloody wet noodle to a wall.

Anyways, hope you guys like what I'll be doing with the Ruby pairing. Kinda going for the super innocent 'kawaii' thing, as you've doubtless noticed over the last bit. Ruby is young, sweet and innocent and Zan is an old, half-crazy undead warrior. Don't expect Zan to be 'wooing' people like some fracking prince of old. Ruby will probably initiate things, if awkwardly and shyly. And Yang…. Oh boy, this chapter will be fun at first.

Anyways, stay Twisted guys.)

(Zanmei, Ozpin's Office, First Person)

"Brother, its good you're here," Ozpin started as soon as I came in the room, never even pausing his whetstone on his blade, sitting in his chair with his armor resting on an armor mannequin like I myself had in my own room," I'm afraid you'll be back in the scrapper soon. There's a veritable army of Grimm headed our way and I'll need your help to repel them."

"What's the count like?" I signed at him quickly, walking up to his desk and taking an open seat, removing my helmet and placing it by my feet.

"Several thousand at the least, I'm afraid. The capital is on guard, watching the Grimm marching way too close for comfort by their walls, so we aren't going to receive much in the way of support. A few platoons is all we get, and some ammo." I nodded, leaning back in my chair," We have five hundred fully trained Hunters on hand, three centuries of mechanized infantry, mostly light drones but we do have a Heavy Paladin, and another thousand students which, though I loathe it, will have to take part. Vale sent us a platoon of light infantry, and I recalled two dozen Hunter teams so that's another two centuries of men. The vale infantry are mostly holding units unfortunately."

At my request, he leaned forward and pressed a button on his desk, bringing up a nice aerial view of Beacon and the surrounding areas," We should trap the approach, anything we can get up in time. Deploy drones ahead of the traps to buy time, a fourth of the units. Another half of them should be in amongst the traps, hold them there as long as possible. Anyone with long range weaponry should pick off vulnerable targets on the way up, support the drones."

"What about the Nevermores? There are hundreds of them as well. I suggest we use the Bullheads we have on hand, and the Paladin unit on the wall, to fight them. That should keep them at bay." I nodded, gesturing for him to continue and he smiled slightly," We could also deploy the pikes inside our gate, make them fight through a pike wall before anything else."

"No, the heavier Grimm would crush the line." I countered quickly, and he nodded gravely.

"I'm aware, which is why we'll have our heavy Hunters fighting with them. That should help them hold. Once we're sure the Grimm aren't going to turn on Vale, they'll come to help us. We just need to hold." I nodded approvingly, smiling at him grimly.

"How many will be on the front lines?" I asked simply, knowing he would understand my meaning. He sighed, looking at me mournfully and I winced at the sympathetic look.

"Every one of us will be fighting as soon as the gates come down. I'm sorry, but that will include the students." I swore internally at his admission, hand balling into a fist and making the unneeded bandages bunch uncomfortably.

"I'll be on the front. You know this, right?" I signed slowly, and the other man nodded gravely. "Good, just don't die, Solaire."

"Of course not. These monsters stand no chance against us, battling together on the front lines. None have before, and these beasts will fall to us as every other has." I nodded and he smiled widely," Now then, are we going to cut loose on them?" At that question, I just smiled viciously. A look that was mirrored by my brother," Good, now then. How do you recommend using the first years and second years?"

'Ruby….' I paused, my eyes widening a fraction as he looked down at the map for a moment, moving icons around to represent our plans before looking up.

"Have them pull out wounded and support from the rear." I said quickly, Solaire blinked, looking at me for a moment.

"That is fully a quarter of our number. We have younger years than older, pulling them all back would strain our numbers greatly and exaggerate our casualties greatly.' He looked at me for several long seconds, before smiling sympathetically," I'm sorry, brother, but we need them up front. I'll handle that planning aspect though, you don't have to risk your friends again. I'm sorry I put you on the spot in such a cruel way."

"I'm sorry I can't help you with that part," I signed to him guiltily.

"Nonsense, you're fine. You only just started making a friend, asking you to risk her is unfair." He smiled at me again, always the wise one and always the cool headed one as well. "I'll put her in the fight on the walls, as a ranged combatant. You go get some rest, you can spend some more time with them before tomorrow." I nodded, replacing my mask and helmet and walking from the room," Oh, and clean your armor. You need to be ready tomorrow."

I chuckled soundlessly, walking towards my room. The halls were packed, students, soldiers and faculty alike rushing here and there, carrying food, ammo, medicine, whatever they may need. I stopped more than once for carts of ammo, or droids and explosives to prepare the first stage of the defense. I had never seen so many mobilize in such a way, most of my fights had been with enemies in the dozens not thousands.

Eventually, I found my way to my dorm's hallway, teams RWBY and JNPR standing in the hallway anxiously. I walked up to them, plates and chain clanking ominously and nodded in greeting as they turned to me.

"So there's gonna be an attack?" Blake asked me, and I signed an affirmative, head dropping slightly as she asked her next question," Where will we be during it?"

"He can't tell us that!" Weiss snapped even as I raised my hands to respond, her eyes snapping to my moving hands alertly.

"The front…" Blake breathed quietly," With me and Ozpin, fighting the Grimm." I watched as their emotions ran through their faces, terror for all but Yang and Nora being the main emotion present. The two exceptions looked excited, if anything, and I could feel my blood boil ever so slightly at that.

Ruby walked up to me calmly, standing barely a half foot from me and looking up at my face with a stern expression," Will we win?" I looked down at her for a moment, her eyes boring into me and nodded slowly. "That's what matters then. We'll fight and win." She smiled, and everyone seemed to relax slightly. I looked past her at the rest of the hallway, seeing team CRDL approaching us slowly and pointing.

I could see everyone tense up, but didn't know why as I'd only ever seen their dossiers once. They stopped several feet away, the large man with brown hair stepping forward silently, looking down as Jaune stepped up in front of his team protectively. He looked at the blonde for a moment, face straight and hard as stone," So we're going to fight a war tomorrow, Arc."

"Yeah." Jaune said quietly, looking at him carefully," Why are you here, Cardin?"

"I- We, actually, never apologized for how we treated you. You saved my life, Arc. That means something, made me think about things." I raised an eyebrow slightly, watching the confrontation curiously," So we're sorry, all of us."

"I forgive you," Jaune smiled, offering his hand to the larger man who smiled, taking it," Just try and make it up to Velvet too, okay?" He nodded and the group disappeared back around the far corner, a sense of something I had missed the meaning of, but a good something, permeating the air.

"So, what should WE do?" Yang asked loudly, breaking the somewhat quiet silence," Maybe party or something?"

"No, we're going to rest up tonight." Ruby said commandingly, walking towards her room followed quickly by her team, despite Yang's grumbling. "Night Zan!" She yelled before closing the door, and I knocked on the wall a couple times in acknowledgement before going to my room, intent on cleaning my armor thoroughly.

I was almost finished, a couple of hours later, polishing my bracer diligently when a knock came on my door, Ruby opening it a crack a moment later. I looked over my shoulder at her, sliding the bracer back into place, and nodded. "Mind if I come in?" Another nod as I dragged my shield to my side, scrubbing at the dried blood, uncaring of the carpet.

She came in, wearing her pajamas, and sat on one of my chairs quietly, watching me work and eventually piping up," I'm scared, Zan. What if we lose people tomorrow? I didn't think we'd be attacked like this…." I sighed quietly, placing my unfinished shield beside me and standing up stiffly.

I grabbed a notebook off my desk, flipping it open and writing for her," We'll either be fine or we won't, and fretting won't change that either way. Just shoot straight, fight smart and follow orders. That's our best chance."

"I know, but still." She muttered and I took the notebook back from her, writing again until she spoke again, interrupting me. "And I'm not scared to die either, I'm scared OTHER people will. That I'll screw up or something and get them killed."

I nodded, scratching out what I'd been writing and scribbling a new message," Then just don't mess up. War is simple really, hold your line and fight your hardest to win. Ozpin and I will do our damndest to protect all of you."

"So everyone will be okay?" She asked brightly, smiling widely, hopefully, and I shook my head 'no', making her face droop.

"People will die tomorrow, Ruby. We'll mourn them when that happens though, not before. Until that happens, we have to be ready for anything." I thought for a moment, before adding," That's what being a soldier, or a Hunter, means. We fight and bleed and die so those we love don't have to."

She sat on the chair quietly for a few minutes before nodding and smiling at me, sitting beside her on the floor. She stared for a minute at my masked face before leaning forward and giving my forehead a quick peck, and hopping up," I'm gonna go get Crescent Rose, I wanna work on it some before bed." I nodded, and she skipped from the room.

A moment later, I touched my forehead and shrugged, resuming my work on my shield. When she returned, I held my hand out for her scythe and, reluctantly, she handed it over. I motioned her to close her eyes and, equally hesitantly, she did so. And I channeled as many souls as I could spare into her scythe, reinforcing it to far higher levels and honing the blade greatly. Satisfied, I poked her leg and she looked down at the folded up scythe curiously and unfolded it, marveling at the sharpened blade.

"What'd you do?" I merely shrugged, smiling, and we sat in silence, working on our weapons and equipment for an hour, until Ruby curled up on my bed and passed out. When the sun rose some hours later, I couldn't help but bow before it, praying for strength in the coming battle.

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So, what'd you guys think? Good? Bad? Ruby not Ruby-like enough? The scene with Cardin too much?


	12. War for Beacon Academy

(A/N: So, guys, time for blood! This will be one long chapter, from several points of view at various points in the defense. For this battle, teams are not being deployed. Rather, people are being deployed to defensive jobs based on their skill set. For example, Ruby is on the wall to snipe, while Yang, Nora, Jaune and Pyrrha are all in the third defensive line inside the gate. Blake and Weiss are in the back line, to help wounded escape and receive treatment, along with Ren. The professors are in the back line as well, protecting the medical personnel. Bullheads are going to be used to try and combat Nevermores. As explained last chapter, a LOT of the drones are outside the wall, around half, to hold them as long as possible. The other half are on the wall itself, adding their fire-power to the mix. So, ENJOY!

So, guys, how'd you like the Ruby X Zan scene at the end of last chapter?

Also, I am trying out longer chapters so lemme know what you think. And for this story, please bear in mind there WILL be things happening you will NOT see happening, like CRDL's character growth. Zan didn't see it, Ozpin didn't see it, wasn't overtly important, so YOU didn't read it.

And stay Twisted

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(Zanmei, Dorm, First Person)

I sighed as I threw a pillow at the sleeping Ruby, smiling when she spluttered in surprise and fell out of the bed, tossing pillows and blankets everywhere. I, quite innocently, adjusted my bracers and chest-plate to make them fit more snugly. She landed on the floor, sprawled across it goofily, and blinked up at me for a moment sleepily. If I could, I would have laughed loudly. As it was, I simply smiled and my shoulders shook lightly, chains and plates clinking, as the girl glared up at me.

"Why you!" She scrambled onto her feet -grabbing a pillow as she did so- and ran at me with a smile, before slipping on the blanket and slamming into my chest shoulder first, surprising me and making me step back and trip over a chair, sending the two of us crashing to the floor loudly, the room shaking under my armored weight. She sat up on top of my stomach, rubbing her shoulder in either pain or shame, I couldn't tell which, and smiling shyly at me. "S-sorry!"

"Ruby, are you-" Yang threw my door open, stopping mid-sentence with a strange face, eye twitching and smiling oddly. A second later, her smile vanished and she glared down at me. "What. The. HELL is going on here?!"

Ruby leapt to her feet, waving sporadically standing in front of me," No! Not what you think! It was-" Yang shoved her aside gently, fist swinging back with a yell, aiming at my face. I stepped back easily, avoiding her punch and grabbing the offending arm, yanking it behind her back and holding her there in spite of her struggling, inadvertently displaying impressive strength to the dumbstruck Ruby

"Yang, calm down! It was my fault, I tripped and tackled him." Ruby said loudly, getting her sister's attention as the awake, and geared, B and W of RWBY ran into the room.

Seeing the blonde start to calm down, I released her and stepped away, still wary. Ruby stepped between us again, watching the older girl carefully," You okay, sis?" She asked quietly, a worried look plastered on her face." You okay, sis?" She asked quietly, a worried look plastered on her face.

"Why were you in here? You SLEPT here." Yang glared at her sister lightly, breathing heavily and deeply. The other two girls wisely chose to stay quiet in the face of the angry brawler.

"I was nervous about the… battle coming up. Zan has been through them before, so I came to talk to him. He made me feel better, then we worked on our weapons and I went to bed." She levelled a serious gaze at her sister, speaking clearly and sternly," We didn't DO anything, Yang, I promise."

"Okay… I just…" Yang looked sad for a moment and I stepped around her, offering my hand quietly. She looked at me, then it, then took the hand. Turning to Ruby, she said," Give us a minute, 'kay?"

"Promise you won't try to hurt Zan, and yes." Ruby said lightly, receiving a nod from her and walking from the room, with the two other girls, both of which gave me odd looks, Blake amused and Weiss mildly offended, before following her. When they had gone, I turned to Yang expectantly.

"I just want a yes or no, did you fuck my sister?" I shook my head no, calmly and she sighed," I'm sorry I got mad. I'm protective like that." I held up a hand, telling her to wait, and retrieving my notebook to start writing.

"She's your sister, so I understand your protectiveness. But I'd never take advantage of her distress like that. We just talked for a bit." I wrote, before handing the paper to her and starting another note," To be clear, 'fucking' is sex, yes?" She laughed loudly, nodding at me and I sighed," Then no, we didn't do that. I've been working most of the night."

"Well, thank you for helping her." I nodded easily, and she stared at me for a moment," She told me you took off your mask for her. That true?" I hesitated a moment, mildly worried she would want the same," Huh. So you like her huh?"

I gave her an odd look, head jerking back in surprise., and pulled out another piece of paper," She's my friend, of course I like her."

"Not like that." She laughed again, her anger gone completely. "Just… Whenever she makes a move, don't worry about me. I'll only hurt you if you hurt HER. Deal?" I nodded, despite not understanding what on earth the blonde was talking about, simply happy she wouldn't attack me again, and she smiled grimly," Keep an eye out for her in the fight. Me too. We'll be wrecking face!"

A beeping caught my attention, both our Scrolls alerting us to messages. Checking mine, I read the message from Solaire,' Get to my office, we're staging for the defense and I need you with me.'

"Well, looks like it's time. They're sending out position orders to all our scrolls, telling us where to go." She looked at me," Good luck." I nodded to her, smiling behind my mask and we walked out of the room.

The hallways on the way to meet Solaire were crowded and hot, people of all stripes wishing each other luck, shuffling into position, or saying goodbye to friends and writing and mailing letters, to family and loved ones. I understood the fear and anxiety, both palpable to my sensitivity to concentrated emotion. And definitely NOT good when fighting a horde of monsters that quite literally fed on the negative emotions just as well as the flesh of their victims. I reached the office easy enough, many outright stepping aside at my imposing, heavily armored form, and walked in to a truly nostalgic sight.

Solaire, the Paladin of the Warriors of the Sun, and my adoptive brother, suited in the armor of our older days, even if it was modified with an added hand-gun holstered on his hip. I could see our talismans dangling from around his neck and, noticing me, he pulled one off and tossed it at me. I caught it easily, placing the small metal coin around my neck and nodding at him.

"When they reach the gate, Glynda is going to drop it on them. They'll get through anyway, and it'll kill quite a few of them." I nodded, liking the addition to our planning. "Glad you approve." His voice was muffled behind his full helmet, and I remembered countless battles and adventures through equally countless years hearing that voice. It granted me an odd sort of peace, the familiarity of the voice. "Do you still have faith in Lord Gwynn?" His voice seemed hesitant, and I paused in though for several moments before nodding. "Shall we?" He gestured at a balcony, overlooking the red forest and I joined him there, kneeling as I had in the Kiln so very long ago.

"We fight in the light, and for it. We are Warriors of the Sun, sworn to defend all that is light and warmth in this world, and safeguard the innocent from the darkness. I pray today to you, Lord Gwynn Lord of Sunlight to guide our blades and harden our steel today, as we fight against the Grimm, monsters of evil and darkness not seen since your rise against the dragons." Solaire's prayers surely fell on dead ears, but I didn't have the heart to deny the man such a small pleasure as praying with me. He nodded after the simple prayer, and I rose beside him," Now, I suggest we get to our own positions, need to rally the troops."

With a nod, we walked together to the gate, where the men and women were arranging into formations in preparation for the Grimm who, by the distant sounds of gunfire and explosions, were already fighting the drones and dealing with the traps. Three rows of pike-armed Vale-men, bolstered with Drones on the forward most line, and backed up by mace and axe wielding Vale infantry, with students and faculty who wielded shields and melee weapons, or could simply hold regardless, like Cardin, Yang, Jaune and Pyrrha.

The wall seemed to be lined with the remaining droids and any long-ranged combatants from Beacon, like Ruby. I spotted Glynda's back walking along the line, checking student's equipment and positions, and presumed she had opted to stand up there. Ruby turned and saw me, pushing gently through the pikes to get in front, and waved happily, an action which seemed out of place given the gunfire in the background. Before I could wave back, she turned and unfolded her scythe into rifle mode, walking forward and out of view. With an order from Solaire, the dozen or so hovering Bullheads pulled away, engaging any aerial opponents or just putting down fire on ground targets I couldn't really tell.

Solaire touched the side of his helmet again and, when he spoke, the school's own audio systems transmitted it making his voice echo across the entire school," Students, faculty, staff and Vale soldiers, welcome to beacon. Men and women of vale, you are soldiers trained to fight alongside Hunters and Huntresses, and both of those are here aplenty, just look around. Students, you are like my own children in my heart, but you came to this school to train as warriors to ward off the Grimm threat and protect the people," behind him, the defenders on the wall began firing intermittently, sending bursts down on Grimm as they neared," The Grimm have made a foolish error, daring to attack Beacon. This place started as a fortress in the old days, a bastion against the monsters once more at its walls, and never has it fallen. Now, it is OUR home, and they want to take it from us. Well, this place has never fallen before." Behind him the massive, solid wooden wall collapsed outward with a flash, crushing dozens of Grimm with a dull, wet thud," Now hold fast, and defend your home!"

I planted my sword in the cement beside me, great-shield at my side, and touched a hand to my talisman, summoning a massive bolt of lightning in my hand as Solaire did the same. We hurled the crackling bolts into the mass of Grimm, mainly 'Wolves and Creeps, and the explosions tore their ranks apart, sending body parts and corpses raining back from the door. I readied another bolt, my arm tingling pleasantly from the concentrated pure energy, as many of the wall defenders, Ruby included, turned to rain fire down on any Grimm which escaped our lightning and rushed either us or the pikes encircling us. Most fell to the fire, the few who escaped getting outright slaughtered by the dense pikes. In the background, Bullheads weaved and spun to evade Nevermore attacks, keeping the massive birds from raining a hail of arrows down on the relatively vulnerable men and women on the ground.

I hurled my second bolt as the Grimm started to return to the rush en masse, these Grimm being more armored and accompanied by Ursa and Boarbatusks, though their armor was as paper to the hot lightning. Solaire threw his after mine, sheathing his sword and drawing his side-arm and firing precise shots at the armored targets who escaped the blast itself, stumbling and whining until the bullets tossed them aside. Deciding to save the final bolt, I turned my head to regard Solaire who in turn looked at me and nodded. It was an old enough signal we used, and I yanked my sword from the cement with a loud cracking sound. Solaire quietly stepped back, behind my raised heavy shield as the horde one more rushed towards us, eager for blood and death.

I raised my shield high, slamming the edge into the ground and catching a Creep's neck with the weight, even as I angled the shield down and let the 'Wolf behind it slam chest first into the upper edge, shattering ribs and crippling it. Solaire didn't care, ducking to my left and stabbing it in its thick, furry neck. A step forward and a lunge, and a charging Ursa fell even as more of the wolves slammed against me in a full charge, and I slammed my shield across my chest to throw them away. And we were just getting started…

(Third Person, Beacon Exterior)

Zanmei and Ozpin fought elegantly, if brutally, entirely unaware of things outside their own sphere of combat. Zanmei would take the weight of a charge on his shield while his partner dealt rapid death blows to anyone he could and Zan finished them with heavy, crushing attacks. Behind them, the pikes met the charging beasts with a clatter of steel and a roar of defiance. Moments later, the line began to buckle under the weight of the corpses of the Grimm as they charged relentlessly, a sea of darkness with spots of white armor. A few moments later, the pikes started to collapse as men and droids fell to the claws.

(First Person, Vale Pilot Ackerman)

I yanked the controls to the left, straining my engines as a volley of thick, black feathers shot past me and into the red forest. My nose levelled at the charging Grimm army, still stretching down beyond the bottom of the hill despite the fires that burned along it, all the evidence that was left of the earlier defense put up by the drones. I took the opportunity to let loose a torrent of machine gun fire and a pair of missiles, devastating back ranks with explosions and armor piercing shells. An entire line fell as I flew past, turning sharply again as a trio of Nevermores fired more feathers, nearly crippling my Bullhead when one deflected off the right wing, gouging the armor down it as far as I could see.

"Fuck!" I swore loudly, the entire ship shaking as a Nevermore latched onto it and started to peck at the thick armor. In an effort to dislodge the Grimm, I spun my ship violently in a barrel roll, tossing it towards the ground even as my control faltered. I managed to rein it back in before I crashed into the horde of monsters, yanking back and rising quickly.

Just in time for another Nevermore to pelt me with feathers, shattering the canopy and one piercing me through my stomach, my blood washing across my lap as my legs deadened. Must have struck the spine, because I couldn't feel the one I had in my leg. Without access to the pedals, acceleration was shot so, even as another burst of rounds tore the bird apart, I lost control over the gun-ship, only managing to orient towards the ground. I fired every missile and bullet I could manage, sweeping carnage across the horde before aiming my ship-turned-missile towards a massive Death Stalker.

(Beacon Walls, Fist Person, Ruby Rose)

Round after round, magazine after magazine, and it didn't matter. The Grimm kept coming, washing over the firs lines of the defenders despite our best efforts, even as Zan and Ozpin cut apart entire swaths of them. Beside me, I saw a feather from a Nevermore pierce a drone and carry it down, into the horde with a spark as it 'died'. Worried, I turned around and saw a Bullhead had taken the brunt of the attack, whether meant for us or it I couldn't tell, and watching it turn to the horde, emptying as much of its ammunition's load as it could before….

"No!" I screamed as it crashed, exploding violently and tossing aside Grimm both alive and dead, Miss Goodwitch beside me turned, watching the same explosion before sighing and returning to sending the clusters of feathers into the horde inside Beacon's walls. I could see the Paladin in the center of the middle row, surrounded by men and women, lobbing grenades and bullets past the forward line and into the open gate.

Seeing an Ursa Minor on Zan's back flank about to smash him, I fired another shot and tore its head from its shoulders. Above me I could hear the cawing of Nevermores and the whirring of Bullhead engines, occasionally accompanied by an exploding missile or a chattering chain-gun. The noise was deafening, and I had decided two things. I hated the Grimm…..

And I hated war more.

(Beacon Courtyard, First Person, Weiss Schnee)

I grunted in effort, Blake and I carrying a groaning Vale soldier away from the back line. He'd lost his arm to a Beowolf or something and been pulled away by his friends. We carried him away, several yards back from the line where a medical area had been set up. A dozen droids stood guard, and another half dozen medical droids assisted the Beacon medics in their attempts to save the wounded men and women.

"Weiss, stop…." I looked at Blake as she, a stony expression on her face, laid the man's head down on the pavement gently," He's gone, we need to get back to the line."

I swore loudly, dropping his legs unceremoniously and turning to the young Faunas. She was as covered in dirt and blood as I was, and had hardly said anything so far, and the battle had been going for half an hour so far by my count. We'd dragged at least three dozen wounded men and women back from the lines so far, and this wasn't the first we'd lost on the way back.

We jogged back to the line, Velvet pulling another wounded man away from the fight. My eyes widened at the bloodied and torn chest-plate as Cardin looked up at me with pain filled eyes and Velvet helped him away from the line. We took him easily, like every other, and helped him walk away from the battle.

"My team, Russel and Sky went down. Have they been pulled out yet?" He asked quietly, and I shook my head at him as we sat laid him down on a mat, marred by the blood of the previous occupant. "Damn it…" We walked away quickly, only making it a few steps before the guard Drones raised their rifles, barking automatically at a charging Ursa Major. I drew my rapier as fast as I could, but the Grimm was already on top of us, swinging harshly. I felt something wrap around my waist, yanking me back and hurling me away from the monster.

I rolled across the ground, looking up in time to see Blake get thrown to the floor violently, and the Ursa slam its rear leg down on her knees with a crunch and scream I could hear even above the gunfire as the Drones, finally, cut the monster down. Looking past her, I saw why it had gotten through.

The defensive lines were crumbling, students and soldiers losing ground and, worse yet, their lives as the wall defenders abandoned the walls. Some were in a panic; while others were rushing down to help their friends. I saw Ruby soaring through the air with her scythe, slicing anything that got in her way down easily and Yang's fire, her anger aroused somehow in the battle, as she smashed through any Grimm she could reach.

I ran to Blake's side, a drone accompanying me and helping me drag her gently away. She looked up at me, tears on her face from the sheer pain and I looked back, mouthing a thank you. She had saved my life and her legs were the cost. I would repay the debt in any way I could, and I would never stop until I felt satisfied.

(Zanmei, Beacon Courtyard, First Person)

I grunted, shoving another corpse off my sword heavily and shouldering the blade as I paused, seeking my next target. By now, the horde had at least started to somewhat thin even if the Grimm at the rear were heavily armored and fresh, while our men were not. Solaire and I had endurance that no human could ever match, and I surpassed HIM by leagues still. Even so, my arms burned and I could feel the sweat stinging my eyes as a Death Stalker roared at me, charging brashly. I caught its right claw on my shield, stepping in and severing the entire arm with a downward strike before Solaire, leaping over my back, severed its tail and I hammered it home with the flat of my blade, killing it with a hiss escaping it pitifully.

I looked at my partner, his shoulders heaving as he breathed and surveyed the battle. His once pristine white armor was now stained with the dark blood of the Grimm and he sported a large cut across his cheek, having lost his helmet at some point in the battle. He was exhausted, I could tell this easily, but his raw anger was driving him onward even now. He looked at me, that very wrath etched across his face, after he saw the still, bloody form of a medium sized boy with red armor and two arm-blades," My students are dying! Where the hell are our reinforcements?"

I shook my head, turning from him and rushing back into the fray, cleaving through a Beowolf as I ran. Overhead, the last of the Bullheads was dragged out of the sky, crashing into the courtyard in a ball of flame and twisted metal, crushing a dozen Grimm beasts. I ignored it, the pilot was most certainly dead from the impact, and looked around the field.

Then I saw Ruby, knocked back by an Ursa Major and rolling across the ground painfully, stagger upright with her right arm hanging limply. I could see her peril, and felt my blood boil in my veins as the Ursa reared above her unarmed form, having lost her scythe in the roll. With a silent rage ripping through me, I charged forward recklessly, batting aside Grimm as I moved and ignoring Solaire calling my name. As the towering Grimm swung down, the small girl curled into a ball fearfully and I slid in front of her, shield raised protectively and taking the full weight of the massive bear as it slammed down, sending me to my knees on the muddy ground. With a brutal lunge I sheered the Grimm's arm away and slammed the rim of my shield into its throat, effectively killing it.

"Zan!" Ruby yelled happily, looking up at my blood-covered form. Looking down on her, she seemed relatively unhurt minus the broken arm and tattered clothing. Looking up, my eyes widened as Solaire joined us and I shoved him behind me protectively, turning my back on them with my shield and sword spread out to shield them. The feathers slammed into me like hammer blows, biting into the flesh left vulnerable by the chainmail.

Three feathers in the sides of my chest, and one in my knee, I staggered away from the two behind me as Solaire and Ruby stepped around me, Ruby watching me fall while Solaire hurled lightning into the birds above us.

Passing over the school I saw a massive silver ship, easily miles long and flanked by similar ships slowly descending on the horde with small, almost wasp-like ships darting outward and batting the Nevermores out of the sky. Lying on the ground, I saw Solaire's smile looking at the fighters and carriers.

I smiled as well, reaching up and yanking the sharp feathers out of me before staggering upright despite Ruby's hand trying to hold me down. I'd be damned if our reinforcements found me on my back, despite my injuries.

I hefted my shield and sword, watching the fresh Bullheads dropping more and more drones and Paladins, crushing the Grimm in the courtyard as the surviving defenders cheered loudly. The carriers and fighters, having easily knocked the remaining Nevermores out of the air, started to bombard the Grimm still outside the gates as well as any trying to run. A single Paladin crashed to the ground near us, rising easily with the Atlesian symbol emblazoned on its arms along with a trio of stars along both sides.

"James! About time, old friend!" Ozpin called out happily, walking towards the mechanized unit even as the cacophony of battle died down around us, leaving only the groans of the dead or wounded and the cheers of the survivors, accompanied by the intermittent burst of rifle fire to deal with wounded Grimm. "I sincerely feared you had abandoned us for a moment there."

"I am sorry, Ozpin, we ran into some trouble with the Vale council. They wanted us to go to the capital for fear it would still be attacked." James' mech knelt, the canopy sliding back," I came as soon as I could do so without sparking a war. I have medical officials on the way down now, they'll help with the wounded."

"Thank you." Ozpin nodded, turning to me," Zan, you're wounded. I expect you to report with the others for treatment." I nodded hesitantly, and followed Ruby way towards the medical area. The girl looked tired, and was cradling her arm painfully. Worried, I peered at her soul which was still bright and vibrant, if slightly dimmed. Unavoidable, after a massive battle such as this, no one would walk away unscathed.

I just hoped my friends were okay.

(Thanks for reading guys!)


	13. Casualties of War

**(A/N: So, you guys, how did you like the longer chapter? I must say, I enjoyed writing a longer chapter, especially one with so much fighting. So, this chapter is titled 'Casualties of War' and will be about, go figure, the Casualties Beacon sustained. **

**Note: The Drones were almost entirely wiped out, the Paladin is fine, and the Vale Militia-men were wiped out with 90% casualties and only 2% surviving uninjured. The rest of the casualties will be announced by Ozpin himself in this chapter. **

**Stay Twisted!)**

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(Zanmei, First Person, Emergency Medical Area)

After being cleared with only having minor cuts and abrasions, for which I was ordered to take a shower and given a shot of anti-biotics, I was completely ignoring said instructions and helping clear the approach to Beacon of corpses, mechanical and Grimm alike, as well as looking for surviving pilots. I knew the latter pursuit would be in vain, but it was easy enough to shove Grimm carcasses off a cliff. Atlesian soldiers had, at first, not wanted me to help them. Then I threw a three-hundred pound Boarbatusk a hundred feet and over a cliff edge, and they opted not to fight me.

So here I was, carrying Grimm pieces and dropping them down a cliff where Atlesian mechs were burning the corpses, beside Paladin's who were hauling away the heaviest debris, carrying metal to a pile in the center of the steadily expanding area starting at the gate into Beacon. The gate itself had been ruined almost entirely, burned and pitted to uselessness, and so it had been dragged to the cliff-side and dropped as well.

Eventually, I stopped and went to get something to eat as the sun went down over the edge of the cliff. Inside the walls, the Grimm corpses had already been removed and the dead were laid out in rows, their bodies covered. The Vale militia-men were being air-lifted by Dust-Planes back to the Capital, the few wounded having already been taken off. Of the Vale-Men, only ten percent had lived, and only two percent were walking away in one piece.

Across the courtyard were dozens of tents, with Atlesian, Vale and Beacon medical staff running around, treating wounded Beacon students and staff for their injuries. Around teen feet from it towards the gate itself, fifteen feet from the actual gate, I could see a similar set up as the Vale-men corpses, this time being Beacon students and faculty who had fallen in combat. Fearful, I closed my eyes and reached out with my soul to the wounded area, and sensing all of RWBY and JNPR as, at the least, living. I couldn't very well tell much else though, other than their continued life so I walked in that direction, forgetting for the moment my hunger.

The people on the ground had a variety of wounds, gashes, breaks and a lost limb here and there. Closer to the gate, the patients were anesthetized and resting, their wounds treated already. I spotted Ren, missing his jacket and shirt and sporting bandages across his torso, sitting on a crate next to Pyrrha and Jaune's resting forms on the ground. I walked to him easily, smiling at him behind my mask and waving.

He looked tired, but unhurt, and waved lightly back. I gestured ate Pyrrha and Jaune, and then at him, making my question clear enough,' What happened?'

"I got a few broken ribs, and Jaune broke his right arm and leg. Pyrrha…. She took a hard hit from an Ursa Major, it broke her spine." I could see the pain etched in his face, clearly suffering from the news," She'll likely never walk again without highly advanced cybernetics. Even then… Her career as a Huntress is over entirely." He smiled thinly, looking up at me," Nora got out fine though, she's back in the dorm. She won't even speak to me, I think the battle hurt her heart quite a bit."

I frowned, looking at the sleeping figures for a few minutes before gently placing my hand on Ren's shoulder and walking by, spotting Weiss sitting next to a bed at the far end of the area. As I closed the distance, I could see Blake's head poking out of the blanket. Like most of those here, arranged on the beds in the tents, she had an I.V. in her arm and her Faunas ears were twitching on top of her head.

Unlike them, both her legs were in casts and she was looking around sleepily, still coming down from the anesthetics. Weiss spotted me walking towards her, waving weakly. I nodded back, closing the last few steps, and happily accepted the small thermos of coffee she offered, thanking her with a small nod. I turned away, sliding my mask down and taking a long drink from the thermos. Weiss looked up at me after I replaced my mask, turning back to her I gestured at Blake and herself, then the I.V.

"An Ursa almost got me, Blake saved me, and now her knees are ruined." The heiress looked at her lap sadly," And her career might be over now, because of me."

"Stop." The exhausted girl said, voice weak and tired," I saved my friend and team mate, and given the chance I would do so again and again." Weiss smiled miserably, and Blake reached a hand out towards her. The young heiress took it, scooting closer so the young girl could reach easier. "'Sides, you're rich. You can just buy me new knees."

"I'll talk to my dad," The girl remarked dryly, yet seriously, making Blake's ears twitch and eyes widen," And no, that is NOT negotiable. At all. You will be getting reparative surgery, the best there is, and rehabilitation afterwards."

"I suppose I shouldn't complain, should I?" The girl remarked quietly, smiling at the young heiress warmly. "Guess all it took to friendly up the 'Ice Queen' was getting half crushed by an Ursa Major."

I chuckled inaudibly, deciding to give the two girls some alone time, and reached out with my soul to look for Ruby, finding her and her sister's flames nearby and walking towards them. Yang was sitting on her own bed, arms wrapped to the shoulder in bandages and smiling grimly at Ruby. Ruby herself was wearing a black tank top over her combat skirt, bandages crossing her stomach and right shoulder and her right arm hanging in a sling. Crescent Rose was sitting on her waist like normal, and the small girl smiled thinly at me.

"So, you DID see a medic, right?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as soon as she saw me and I chuckled, pulling the small doctor's note out and handing it to the girl who proceeded to begin perusing its contents.

"Hey, big guy, thanks for saving my lil' sis." I looked at Yang's smiling face, though she looked entirely exhausted. I gestured at her arms questioningly and she shrugged," Got too into the fight, kept hitting things and busted my knuckles up pretty bad. Lots of scratches all over my arms, but I'm fine."

"Hey!" I looked at Ruby's angry face, tilting my head to the side," YOU were supposed to go shower and then rest up in your dorm!" I chuckled quietly, the girl simply stomping her foot and grabbing my arm," Come on, YOU are going to your dorm like the doctor said!"

I looked at Yang humorously and she just shook her head and hopped off her own bed," Get goin', or I'll push ya. Rubes ain't as strong as me, so walk or get carried, Tin Man." I sighed, walking towards the Academy with the two girls in tow while Ruby told Yang about how I saved her during the battle. Not quite sure how, but someone I apparently single-handedly killed over five dozen Death Stalkers while she watched, even though I know for fact there wasn't even one.

I couldn't help but chuckle, despite the situation we were all in and our surroundings because, in spite of everything, Ruby was smiling and laughing. And her flame was still burning bright as a sun.

(Ozpin, Ozpin's Office, Third Person)

"How many did we lose?" Ozpin asked Glynda quietly, sitting at his desk in his armor, exhausted both mentally and physically from the battle. His body had not been put through the paces like that in ages, and his skills had moderately dulled since his last major battle some ten years ago. Glynda, sporting a small cut on her cheek and a tight bandage around her left wrist from a piece of metal cutting her forearm there.

"We lost a lot. We're still identifying bodies and recovering other corpses. The Vale-men were almost entirely wiped out…. If we had flattered even a moment sooner than we did, I don't think anyone would have survived." Glynda sighed, taking a seat at the desk," For now, I think we should just rest, and focus on healing. I made a list of losses though, for you to view at your leisure."

Ozpin took the paper, sighing as he leaned back and started reading, "I'll send you details later on what will be done, please see to the student's needs." Glynda nodded, and walked from the room quickly. "And please, send Zanmei a message that I will need to speak with him."

(Vale News Network, Special Broadcast)

Lisa and Cyril each sat in their seats, prim and proper and composed, preparing to announce today's news: The Grimm attack on Beacon, and the casualties which resulted. As the camera-man gave her the go ahead, Lisa nodded subtly and started to speak.

"Today, tragedy struck. Beacon Academy, well noted for its decisive actions in the Grimm Incursion several weeks ago, has been attacked by the Creatures of Grimm. Vale deployed several units of militia to the Academy, and Atlas moved to assist in whatever way they could. Unfortunately, the Vale militia suffered near total losses and, at the request of the Vale military, their names are going to be withheld." She paused for a second, taking a breath," Beacon Academy, however, has stated that while it sees to the needs of its students and provided us with a full casualty list, including injuries, so that family may be notified as immediately as is possible."

"I would suggest starting with the crippled, Lisa. At least they survived," Cyril cut in unexpectedly, going off the telegraph's suggestions for the first time in his life.

Lisa looked at the man, mildly surprised, before nodding and starting," First, the wounded who will be leaving Beacon permanently and have been granted permission to be announced on air. Miss Pyrrha Nikos has suffered catastrophic wounds, most notably a ruined spine, and will be transferring to an as of yet un-named hospital facility in Vale. Miss Blake Belladonna has had her own legs crippled, the knee caps crushed. Cardin Winchester has had to have his left arm amputated, but is undergoing testing for a cybernetic replacement. Yatsuhashi Daichi has lost his right arm, and is also undergoing testing for cybernetics." She stopped for a minute, looking down at the paper," That is all I am allowed to say at this time. Before I get to the deaths, I'd like to say to the families of the departed Hunters and Vale militias… Thank you. My sister attends Beacon as a first year and she's alive, because of you. I know it may come as little comfort, but they DID matter. And will continue to matter."

Cyril reached over, touching the young woman's hand and smiled at her," Now for the dead. Fox Alistair, of Team CFVY, has fallen in battle. Reports say he died at the front lines, fighting bravely. Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing and Sky Lark of Team CRDL have all died in battle, reports are sketchy but their bodies were found near the front and Cardin Winchester reports they fought bravely. Professor Peter Port has fallen battle, crushed by a falling Bullhead. Ty Lancer of Team TROR has fallen in battle, defending medical teams from a Nevermore aerial attack after being removed from the battle for being wounded….."

(White Fang Base, Third Person)

Adam Taurus smashed his fist into the wall, watching the live news feed reporting the attack on Beacon. Blake was crippled, maybe permanently, and he was pissed. The other White Fang members were all reacting with varying degrees of surprise, some surprised at the attack and others surprised they had survived it. Many were stricken with fear, and often later grief, over family attending the prestigious academy.

The White Fang had noticed the Grimm's movements before anyone else, due to their making their homes in such remote areas, and at CINDER'S insistence they had not reported it. She had insisted that Beacon or Vale could easily stand against a horde of Grimm, and barred any reporting of it. And now, hundreds of people were dead. Yes, they killed people. But they had a reason to; it was FOR something, while the Grimm had slaughtered so many Humans and Faunas, despite Cinder's promise that all would be well.

Now, so many faunas were dead. It was like the Breach, Cinder had lied then too saying that the casualties would be minimal, and yet hundreds of Fang members and civilians had died in the attack. Cinder had sworn that the attack was purely meant to prove a point, make the public realize that the Grimm were the only real threat, not the faunas around them.

Adam wasn't sure how much longer he could convince the Fang to follow that woman, even if they were making headway.

(Zanmei, First person, Zanmei's Dorm)

I groaned, stretching widely in the bathroom and smiling, having just slipped on my uniform and mask. The hot water had, just as Ruby said, done wonders for m sore muscles and the stench of blood and death that had followed me all the way to me room.

The girls, deciding to hang out in my dorm instead of 'doing not a damn thing' in the medical area, had taken showers in JNPR and RWBY's dorms and Ruby had finished before either of us, a feat which amazed me as she had a useless arm, and was currently cooking pancakes in my kitchen, the warm, sweet smell permeating the entire dorm. It covered the lingering stench of gore and death rather nicely, actually.

I walked from the room brightly, waving at Ruby who was cooking pancakes, a Nora helping, and dressed in her pajamas again. She waved back, sort of, with her cast and smiled brightly," See? Told you you'd feel better. Not to mention SMELL better," I laughed quietly with her for a moment before grabbing a cup of water and downing it, still thirsty from the battle.

Yang threw my door open loudly," Put your clothes back on, people!" She yelled happily, smirking when Ruby reddened with a squeal of 'Yang!' and I tilted my head curiously. "Anyways, pancakes done yet? Nora wants some."

"Nora?" Ruby asked in surprise, eyes widening a bit, "She's in her dorm? I was worried about her. She doin' okay?"

"Seemed fine, just a bit worn out. I think the battle got to her a bit, but she'll be fine." Yang's leisurely drawl was ever present and, I suspected, it was a coping mechanism. Coping was good though, it meant she was healing. As for me, I was used to warfare and death, so it didn't bother me as much as it probably should have. Still, I was merely happy Ruby had survived and would be okay, despite my worries for everyone else.

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**Silver Storm has asked me about Beacon's geography, in a P.M., so here it is. **

**Beacon Geography: Beacon is on a semi-plateau in my story. I'm adding a lot to Beacon itself, including the extra, reserved room for Zan. I'm also adding things which seem reasonable, like a thick, siege-rated wall around the place, a forge area, maintenance benches in Dorm rooms and a garden area. Probably gonna add more. **

**In this story, the approach the Grimm used was in the North section, towards Vale City itself (hence the lack of defensive units, for fear the Grimm would instead attack the city). The Landing pads are on the opposite end, the Dorms and Academic areas are in the East section and the medical areas, Forge, Library and other extraneous buildings. **

**Beacon Central, where the offices, and the Tower where Ozpin's office is, as well as teacher's living quarters, are in the center. This area is dedicated to records, money, storage and other auxiliary functions. **


	14. On The Funeral Pyre

**(A/N:**

**Okay Guys, time to feel. I hope. Have fun, everyone.**

**Stay Twisted)**

(Zanmei, Zan's Dorm, First Person)

It was early still, sitting in my room alone. The girls had spent the night with Nora, the poor girl simply couldn't sleep and didn't want to eat much. I found out later that the exuberant girl had, in fact, been on the front line. Seeing that sort of thing was hard for such young people as these, and doubly so on the naturally peppy and optimistic kind of person. Which Nora, for all her jokes about wonton breaking legs, was definitely not up for the levels of blood she had been put through yesterday. Most weren't, really, but doubtless some would suffer more from it than others.

Normally, I would demand that such people be left alone to deal with their pain as they saw fit. However, the memory of my face stinging was still fresh in my mind from suggesting Ruby do so. She had surprised both me and Yang when she slapped me hard across the face, telling me that was the 'stupidest pile of shit' she had ever heard. I had simply apologized and then she had taken her pancakes and a plate with some for Nora took to JNPR's dorm.

My Scroll beeped, alerting me to a message, and I grabbed it from the floor by the bed where I was laying, sliding my finger across the screen. It was a message from Ozpin, a standard one as opposed to a personal message like he normally sent to me, announcing to all the students and faculty that this evening there would be a ceremony for the dead of the attack, which apparently had been dubbed the 'Battle of Beacon'. Attendance wasn't mandatory per se, and anyone who didn't wish to attend would not be penalized or even frowned upon by anyone.

Another message asked me to come met with him, to help plan the event. I sighed, hopping to my feet lightly and starting to throw on my armor. Outside my window, a trio of Bullheads kept silent watch high in the sky for any Grimm who may sense the pain and hate currently festering in Beacon and take advantage of the downed gate and wounded fighters. Nothing would get in, of that much I was comfortably certain.

(Lie Ren, JNPR dorm, Third Person)

Ren walked out of the bathroom gingerly, hand around his still bruised and battered chest and wincing slightly when he sat down on his bed. Nora wouldn't as much as look at him, and Ruby had had enough of the silence. Especially after Nora woke up last night, screaming Ren's name and crying her eyes out.

"Okay guys, what exactly happened out there? What is wrong?" "Ruby asked the two pleadingly, Yang just sat quietly, looking at the two JNPR members for a moment.

"Nothing." Nora mumbled quietly, face downcast. Her face was red and puffy from crying, with dark bags under her eyes and her hair matted and muted, no longer vibrant and bright. It mirrored the change in disposition eerily, and unsettled the two RWBY girls.

"You woke up screaming, in the middle of the night. Zan probably would have kicked your door in if Yang hadn't run over to tell him you weren't in danger." Ruby scolded lightly, looking at the blonde for confirmation.

"He WAS in the hall with his big ass sword when I went to stop him from freakin' out. Looked about ready to hack the door off its hinges too, scared the fuck outta' me." Yang chuckled dryly," Had his helmet on and everything. Dark as it was, I gotta' admit he was kinda intimidating."

"See? Even Zan is worried about you." Ruby whispered pleadingly, looking at the withdrawn valkyrie sadly," I can even go get him, if you want me to. Just please talk to us." She shook her head, drawing her knees up to her chest and Ruby sighed, all their scrolls beeping obnoxiously telling us about a funeral ceremony for everyone who died defending Beacon.

"Ruby, Yang, could you just let me handle Nora?" Ren said quietly, evenly and in control despite the situation they found themselves in and the slight lean he had to adopt while sitting due to his injuries. Ruby opened her mouth to argue, and Yang just stood up and walked out. Ruby's own argument died in her throat, a muted squeak escaping before she sighed and stood up from Jaune's bed.

"Take care of her, Ren." And with that, Ruby left to get ready for the ceremony. She had absolutely no clue what they expected her to wear, she didn't exactly pack for funerals nor had anyone else. Ren just nodded absently, looking dead at Nora for several long, quiet minutes. Ren was a quiet, reserved kind of man who liked silence and thought, whereas Nora had long been known as the loud, happy, sugar-addicted girl on team JNPR.

"Nora-"

"I'm scared, Ren…." She whispered suddenly, cutting him off and starting to cry. "Why did yesterday go so wrong? Grimm have never… They've always died so easily, they've never been a problem before."

"There were too many of them, Nora. Even the weak can push through the strong when there are enough of them, and that is why the Grimm pose such a threat." Ren explained, pushing himself off the bed with a grunt of effort and walking over to sit with the silently crying girl.

"But all those people…. They died…." Ren sighed, putting an arm around the girl and bringing her head against his chest. They sat like that for several minutes, the girl just crying quietly on his shoulder. Eventually, Ren opened his eyes and looked down at the orange haired girl when she got quiet and smiled warmly. She'd fallen asleep finally, and he was content to just sit with her for now.

She'd saved him once before, long ago, and now he would save her.

(Jaune Arc, Emergency Medical Area, Third Person)

Jaune had recovered quickly, thanks to his Aura, and was cleared to move around carefully. None of his injuries impaired his movements, and even if they had he would have made someone carry him to Pyrrha's side if need be. Now, he was sitting by her bed and watching her sip at the soup she'd been handed. She was nervous, because Jaune had heard her talking in her sleep. Saying HIS name affectionately. And he had asked about it this time, instead of ignoring it or letting it go when she avoided answering like so many times before.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye, staring depressedly at legs that wouldn't obey her commands to move even slightly. The doctors had told Jaune about her injury and in turn, he had told her about it, better to be heard from him than anyone he had said. Jaune looked at her and sighed, leaning forward for a modicum of privacy.

"Pyrrha, just tell me what you want to say." Jaune wasn't stupid, like so many believed, nor oblivious. But he had a certain opinion about these things, and that was that if a person couldn't admit it then they weren't ready for it yet. "Besides, I already know about it."

The young Spartan's eyes snapped to him, wide and scared like a deer caught in the headlights or a kid in the cookie jar, sputtering stupidly for a moment before attempting to compose herself somewhat and looking at him," I-I don't know what you-"

"Pyrrha, I was content to wait for you to say something, to be ready. But after yesterday, I can't do that anymore. And I'm sorry for that, really I am." His blue eyes locked on the girl harshly," And don't you dare try and say I deserve better than someone who is disabled."

"But you do, damn it!" She yelled angrily, crying lightly. "You do deserve better. I'm broken now, a disgrace to my family."

"I think you should let me judge what I deserve don't you?" He smiled at her lightly," And I don't give a fuck about your family, you can live with me and mine." He took her had gently, smiling warmly," Just say it. That's all you need to do."

She looked at him fearfully, before a thin smile spread across her face," I love you, Arc." Then they heard the girl start screaming.

(Coco Adel, Beacon Courtyard, Third Person)

Coco could not believe they were dead. Sure, they'd told her he'd gone down during the fight, and she'd seen the news-cast from the small medical area across the courtyard. But she hadn't, even for a moment, believed it. But standing there, looking down at Fox's young face, pale and still with a fleck of blood on his cheek, next to the massive body-bag she'd been told contained Yatsuhashi she finally felt it. Accepted what had happened to her friends and simply broke down, collapsing to her knees on the spot and screaming incoherently in pain.

The sound had reached Velvet's ears from across the courtyard, and she had sprinted full tilt to her leader's side. Coco collapsed into her grip easily, tears falling from her eyes as easily as the swears and curses fell from her lips. Velvet may not have known what to do, but one of the medical assistants ran over quickly, a girl Velvet had been helping for some time.

"What is wrong, friend?" The copper-haired girl asked, and Velvet couldn't help but smile dryly. After all, what wasn't wrong right now? Still, Coco needed help immediately; velvet's own problems could wait.

"She's just coming to terms with our team-mate's deaths, Penny." Velvet smiled at the robot, before gesturing at Fox's face," Could you close that?" Penny nodded, dutifully sealing the bag once more before sitting next to her new friend.

A few seconds later, Coco still sobbing violently into Velvet's breast, the rabbit-faunus looked up to see her once-tormenter turned friend and amputee. Cardin smiled awkwardly to the girl, looking at Coco for a minute and listening to the girl cry heartily. He simply stood there, in his uniform with the right sleeve pinned to his shoulder. He wasn't too worried about his arm, he'd been cleared for a cybernetic replacement and his family could afford a damned good one so his career would continue, at least. While he was in Vale, thanks to a kindly old man who'd been flying a Bullhead and agreed to take him, he'd broken a few rules.

Tattooed across his remaining arm's wrist, for all to see, was a single name, CRDL, surrounded by a wreath. Getting it done had hurt like a bitch, but Cardin didn't care now any more than he had then. The one and only thing he did care about was that his team, his brothers, had died.

Because of his failing as a leader, they had died. But now, he could push on and help Velvet and Coco at the very least.

(Roman Torchwick, Hidden White Fang Base (location unknown), Third Person)

"More to the point, Cinder, precisely how many more lies did you expect to tell before Neo caught on? I admit, I am not the best at reading people like your self's intentions BUT Neo is." The mentioned mute smiled proudly, sword out and ready.

Roman normally smiled at times like these, when he gained the upper hand in a contest of wits or strength, but this time was different. This time, Cinder had lied and as a direct result, children had died. Now, Roman had killed people before and yes, he was a thief and one of the most wanted criminals in the Kingdoms. But he had one, simple and single, rule.

Kids are off limits.

And because of Cinder, he'd broken that single rule. Twice. And now, he had blood on his hands and, unlike the blood of the greedy he robbed and the cruel he killed, this blood was young and innocent. Pure. He had talked to Adam and found him in agreement, Cinder needed to die for what she had done. She had used people like nothing more than pawns.

They were in a storage area, the woman in question alone in the center surrounded by dozens of Fang soldiers when the trio arrived but Cinder, whether because she wasn't concerned about the grunts milling about with swords and rifles because she thought she could take them all on, or because she honestly believed that Roman and Adam called her here for a simple meeting to discuss a potential expansion opportunity. Which was true in a sense, he supposed idly just as Cinder turned around and smiled calmly at him.

"Hello, Roman, what is it that was so important?" Dust, she was so damned cocky. Roman smiled simply, a fake one to be sure. And nodded to Adam who in turn snapped his fingers and every Grunt in the room snapped their rifles up to the woman, firing in a hail of bullets which tore into the surprised woman viciously, sending smoke and crimson blood sailing into the air. Normally, Roman would have lead such an end with a clever quip but Coder was dangerous and he couldn't afford any warning whatsoever for the woman.

"Adam, I hate to say it, but Mercury and Emerald will only cause trouble if we let them." Adam growled and Roman looked down at Neo, who simply nodded acceptingly and walked off. The trio had already broken their one rule several times because of Cinder, what were two more? And Neo would rather the blood be on her hands than have it on Roman's. He had done more than enough for her loyalty.

(Zanmei Taiyang, Beacon Courtyard, First Person)

It had been a long day for me, and a tiring one at that. It was customary among the Huntsmen to send their dead off in the manner of ancient warriors, by burning their bodies on a funeral pyre. So they had gathered, to burn the admittedly few losses among the Beacon students. Ozpin was on a small stage set up right where the corpses of the Vale soldiers had been before they were taken back to the Capital to be returned to their families for their own ceremonies. Most would be cremated, land in the Kingdoms being sparse enough that burials were reserved for only the wealthy. Most of the time, poorer families merely burned the bodies and Hunter families would use a pyre and build a monument for their loved ones.

I had helped drag the fire-wood into place from the waiting Bullheads, and at Glynda's instructions helped others build dozens of funeral pyres, with the help of other survivors. The process had taken hours to complete, and arranging the bodies respectfully had taken just as long. The bodies themselves were lying on the pyres, about two feet in the air, with their hand clasped over their chests in their school uniforms with a simple black sheet draped over the bodies.

I had returned to my room and cleaned my armor quickly, throwing in on and jogging back down to the stage. I had nothing better to wear, and Ozpin had remarked that many cultures treated wearing armor as formal wear so I had opted to do that, leaving my weapons in my dorm. Now, I stood behind Ozpin as the students filed, limping or being helped by friends or even faculty, to seats arranged to the in front of the stage with the pyres on the left, leading up to the wall.

Ozpin cleared his throat into the microphone, leaning on the podium tiredly from helping build the ceremony's necessary components as he had insisted on doing. I could see Ruby in the crowd, sitting next to her sister in a dark skirt with her red hood raised over her head and her arm still in its sling. "Students and faculty, I know how you all must feel. I won't pretend to understand what you're going through right now. I know the pain of losing friends and loved ones. Every one of you fought and bled for this school, for our home, and I am proud to have stood with you in battle."

He paused for a moment, to collect his thoughts or catch his breath I couldn't tell which," Needless to say, you all have the next two weeks to handle your affairs before any classes restart. Likewise, anyone who has been crippled and cannot find a place to go or treatment may stay at Beacon until such time as both change. This is the bare minimum I can do for you all to thank you for standing by me, because I didn't see a single one of you turn and run no matter how the battle looked."

Damned if he wasn't doing terribly at this speech….

"I once read a quote from a great man, long ago. 'Everyone is entitled to their own sorrow, for the heart has no metrics or forms of measure. And all of it… irreplaceable.'" He looked at the students for a moment, before nodding. "Leaders, you may burn them. Send them on their way."

The students and faculty all stood out of respect, leaders from the teams who were still living approaching the corpses with torches and lighting them. Here and there, a teacher was in place instead of a student, signifying an entire team's death or that the leader was the sole survivor and unable to do it himself. Most of the students, minus Coco and Cardin, returned to their seats. Cardin merely collapsed to his knees, watching his friends burning…..

And he broke down, a scream of pain and rage ripping through the ceremony area like a gun shot. When it petered off, he merely sat there sobbing heavily for a minute until, to my surprise, Yang walked to him and pulled him up by his arms, her own still bandaged and she herself actually wincing from the effort. He moved sluggishly, leaning into a hug from the girl as she lead him back to his seat and sat with him.

With the bodies burning and most of the students crying in varying levels of intensity ranging from light sniffles to…. Well, to Cardin and Coco really as they were the loudest, I looked at the setting sun silently, before leaving the stage and walking to Ruby's side. She smiled up at me beneath her hood, but I could see the tears sliding down her face. I didn't say a thing, instead just standing there and putting a hand on her shoulder.

We'd survived the battle, now we had to survive the harder part. The aftermath. And I'd stand by every one of them until the end, if it came to that, and do so happily. We had fought and bled together, and that made them my family.

**(A/N: So, uh, I hope I did okay on this. Another chapter of hopping around to a lot of characters, and I'm sorry for that, but I wanted to kick-start some plot lines I will have running. **

**Now, something everyone needs to realize and I want to say this clearly…**

**There WILL be things occurring that you will NOT actually see happen. For example, you won't see Emerald and Mercury die, nor did you see Adam and Roman have their meeting. So in future, if something seems odd look back, I will probably have hinted at it. **

**Anyways, thanks for reading.)**


	15. A Week's Worth of Healing

**(So, my Twisted Ones, I cannot tell you how happy I am you guys liked the last Chapter. Truly, you cannot comprehend how over joyed I am for every review and follow. I hadn't really considered how much I'd like them and even now find myself surprised by how much I love seeing them and talking to you guys. Every last review, favorite and view gives me more joy than anything else in my life right now (Sad, ain't it?) and I will continue pumping things out as fast as possible. **

**Okay, now that that's done…. This chapter will begin what I am calling the 'Reconstruction'. Basically, putting everyone back together again (After I ripped them apart) and preparing them for what comes next. Enjoy, and anyone who can figure out who the new villain is (You'll get a hint of who he is in this chapter) gets an internet high five.**

**Stay Twisted!)**

(Ozpin Cane, Ozpin's Office, Third Person)

"Yes, I'm aware that it is rather soon to be introducing them, but we need to get them used to each other. It's for the best, Headmaster." Glynda and Ozpin had been at odds for some time now, Glynda wanting to get the new students she had scouted out over the last week to replace the casualties they'd lost and Ozpin wanting to give the grieving students more time.

"They deserve more time, Glynda. They are only just getting past what happened, and many aren't even at that point yet!" Ozpin chided calmly, once more sitting in his chair with mug in hand. Despite his outward appearance, he was still tense and upset after the battle, and the recent psychological reports he had received had done little to placate his anxiety.

"We don't have more time, Ozpin." She scolded her immeasurably older lover, her face softening slightly," Believe me I would want more time too. I lost Peter, and I wish I could get more time to mourn. But we have to move on, or they will get left behind."

Ozpin sighed, nodding subtly," Very well, I suppose you are right. Have them start their trips to Vale; I shall call an assembly this Monday to explain everything to them, let them have this weekend." Glynda smiled, nodding curtly and started pressing keys on her Scroll, sending messages to the applicants she had accepted. They looked rather promising, even if they had been forced to come from… less than reputable sources. "So, how are the wounded fairing?"

(Coco Adel, Coco's Apartment in Central Vale Capital, Third Person)

Coco hadn't been faring well, not even given the circumstances. After the funeral service, she'd disappeared from Beacon and gone to her apartment, which was now filthy. She'd quickly fallen apart again, drinking herself sick on Yatsuhashi's sake stockpile and binge watching Fox's favorite shows for days on end. Dirty clothes were strewn across the apartment, along with dishes and trash, and she was laying on the floor with a bottle of sake on the table by her and some movie she didn't recognize playing on the television. In her dirty sleep clothes, passed out on the floor.

This was what Velvet, Penny and Cardin found, having just gotten the latter man out of the hospital with his new, reinforced, combat grade synth-arm. Such things were rather expensive, and as a result typically reserved for the wealthy or powerful. Cardin's family was both, and so his career would continue.

Cardin looked down at the woman, frowning deeply before turning to Penny and Velvet," You two, clean the place up would you? I'll take care of her." Penny hesitated for a moment, and Velvet looked about to burst into tears when she recognized the bottle and the show. Penny noticed this; a look of sympathy on the android's face and grabbed her arm lightly, pulling her into the kitchen to start cleaning.

He sighed, reaching down and scooping the girl up in his arms easily and carrying her to the couch. She grunted when he shook her, waking up lethargically and wincing at the quiet noises coming from the kitchen, Velvet running a sink full of dishes while Penny gathered up the trash and disposed of it.

Cardin didn't say a word, merely sitting down beside the young woman and dragging the sake to the table between them. Coco could practically feel her shame, just under the headache, and looked at the larger man for several minutes before deciding to speak," Why are you-"

"Why are we here, Coco?" Cardin asked abruptly, cutting her off easily and uncapping the bottle," What are we born to?"

The woman laughed harshly at his question, looking at him," After recent events, I'd say we were born to die."

"Why do you say that?" He asked calmly, ignoring the heated glare he received a moment later. The woman sat there for a moment, staring at him intensely as her aura sapped her headache's potency.

"You were there, Cardin, you saw what happened. Hell, you lost MORE than me. I at least have both my arms, and Velvet." The young knight looked at her calmly, smiling slightly and offering her the bottle. She took it after a moment, sipping the alcohol lightly and watching him warily.

"We are born to fight, Coco, not die. That is different. We fight for what we believe in, and for those we love enough to die for. We don't live to die, we live to fight." He looked down at her, an understanding smile on his face," Russel, Dove and Sky all died for that. As did Yatsuhashi and Fox. They all died so that others could live in peace." Coco looked at the bottle in her hand, at the small foreign symbol she knew meant 'Yatsuhashi' and smiled bitterly.

Then, she threw the bottle at the wall and stood up calmly," Then I guess I need to shape up, huh? They'd be pissed to see me sulking like this and damned if Yata is someone I want mad at ME." Cardin just smiled, standing up beside the slightly shorter woman and nodding in respect before following her into the kitchen, where she took command of the cleaning.

(Jaune Arc, Vale Central Hospital, Third Person)

"So, Pyrrha, how're you feeling?" Jaune asked lightly, carefully arranging Pyrrha's breakfast on her small table and sliding it in front of her. The surgery had been a success, and once she recovered Pyrrha could start walking again. It would take time for her to be able to get around easily, and she'd never be a Huntress, but there was nothing to do for it.

"I'm feeling adequate Jaune, and better. Thank you." The woman in question was, for the most part, back to herself. And she was happier now than she could ever remember, with Jaune playing nurse every day since he confronted her and she confessed.

"Good, good… So, uh, how're your family taking the news?" And there went Pyrrha's smile, her face immediately drooping and her eyes tearing up.

"I'm crippled, Jaune. My father has disowned me." The Nikos line had long been regarded as 'traditionalists' even in Mistral, where tradition ruled. Her family also had intrinsic military traditions, even going beyond what Mistral families normally had. As such, anyone crippled or disabled was often disowned, if they refused to take their own lives.

"Oh, uh, well I guess you can live with my family?" He hesitated at the suggestion, scratching the back of his head.

"Of course, Jaune. If that's what you want, at least." The blonde smiled widely, nodding vigorously at his new girlfriend.

"Yeah, I'll go with you tomorrow to meet them. They'll love you to death," Little did the knight know how close the young spartiate warrior had come to being dead, either by her own hand or by her family's had she gone back to Mistral. "So, uh, the doctors said you can try and stand if you want."

The woman nodded calmly, pushing the half-eaten breakfast aside and letting Jaune carry them trash and dishes away before he folded up the table and slid it away. She carefully slid her legs to the right, touching her bare feet to the tiles of the hospital room and letting Jaune support her weight with an arm on his shoulder.

"Okay, whenever you're ready, Pyrrha," she nodded, pushing away from the bed easily and taking a few clumsy, weak steps before looking at the young knight and smiling happily, letting him hold her weight and help her walk. His eyes were glued on her legs, watching them for any trouble.

And hers were glued on his face, watching his concern with joy.

(Blake Belladonna, Schnee Corporation Vale Medical Facility, Third Person)

"Just a little longer, Blake. You're doing great!" Weiss said kindly, the young Faunus had at first been surprised by the young heiress' fierce defense of her getting the synthetic bones to her father, and her compassion during the week-long rehab process. Weiss had been there every day, helping her walk and, now, running with her on the small track.

In that time, the Faunus had decided that the young heiress deserved a chance to make a name apart from the reputation of her father and, as Blake finally finished the time on the treadmill and sat down, she told Weiss exactly that. The young heiress simply thanked her, gave her a light hug, and then proceeded to insist that they go to the lab for the blood results. To her credit, Blake merely smiled and nodded, accepting the offered hand to stand up and following the happy Schnee out into the hall. Though, the reason the Schnee was so happy was lost even on the perceptive cat-Faunus who now walked without her bow, ears on display proudly at Weiss' insistence.

(Lie Ren, JNPR Dorms, Third Person)

Ren sighed, watching Nora shake in her bed again before walking over and very gently waking the crying girl up from her nightmare. She'd stopped waking people up or waking up screaming, from them but they hadn't stopped any time she slept all week. Despite his best efforts, he might add.

Ren simply sat with her each time it happened, letting her curl up against him until she fell asleep again and got the rest she needed so badly. He hated seeing her like this, it almost physically pained him in fact. Her hair was limp and colorless, and her skin had taken on a pale, almost sickly hue.

She rarely ate, and never left the room. Not even on pancake-day, in fact. He had delivered the small sweet confections to her in their room, and she had only eaten a few even then. She couldn't even sleep alone in the room, he had to at least be in the room, and hadn't spoken to anyone but him all week.

After she had woken up, apologizing once again for bothering him, he simply smiled and laid down with her again, pulling her with him under the covers to sleep. She needed to rest, and he was happy to help her in any way he could.

He just wished she'd smile again.

(Zanmei Taiyang, Beacon Gardens, First person)

"Soooo, whatcha doin'?" I looked back, over my shoulder at Ruby's smiling face and slid to the side where I knelt on the ground, letting her see the tilled soil with the young seeds in it, a look of realization dawning across her face," Oh! You're planting those seeds?" I nodded, smiling for the girl and taking a drink from the water bottle next to me.

"So, not wearing the mask around me anymore?" She asked quietly when I left my mask down, hanging around my chin loosely. I nodded, signing slowly and simply for the learning girl.

''No point."

"Yeah, I mean, I've already seen your face and no one is here, so why bother?" She absently lay on the ground beside me, offering a cookie which I took quickly, and shoveled into my mouth. I thanked her, and she started pointing at clouds and signing what they looked like, while I nodded or corrected her words. She'd started having Blake and I teach her a few days ago, and was admittedly making startling progress in the endeavor.

"So, Zan, wanna go to Vale and see the others with me later today? We're all meeting up to celebrate… Well, I forget what we're celebrating but still." I sighed inaudibly, leaning back and smiling at the girl before nodding coolly and returning to my work. With a yell of excitement, she shot off leaving behind a flurry of rose petals and a slight scent of roses.

(Unknown Location in Mistral, Third Person)

A young man wearing a folded, clean black robe approached a dark throne, kneeling beside it casually and respectfully. When he spoke, the voice was deep and monotone," My lord, your plan has succeeded. Beacon was weakened sufficiently to take on new members, and our team's application has gone through. What are our orders?"

A brass plated hand entered the young man's view, handing him a small sheet of paper and chuckling darkly," We prepare, obviously. Rather soon, things will start to move." The laugh that followed was dark and menacing, chilling the young monk as he left the room. The paper was covered in instructions for them, and he would see them followed.

And soon, blood would flow. Oh yes, blood would flow for him and his lord, and justice would be levied against the guilty.

**Sorry to be re-uploading the same chapter, I somehow managed to deglect JNPR in this chapter on my first go. **


	16. Meeting New Faces

**(A/N: Okay, so, holy shit. THANK YOU Slam, your message was very kind and I appreciated it immensely. You guys don't get that shit like that basically keeps me up and running, every day, every chapter. Every single time one of you guys follows me or favorites me, it makes all the effort worth it. So thank you, so much, for being such good, loyal readers.**

**Now, this chapter will be introducing some new faces to Beacon. Obviously, the teams, and staff, suffered quite a few casualties. As a result, teams are being re-arranged and recompiled. I have several OC's on hand for this purpose, and will be making a couple up on the spot for this reason. **

**So, I need Mercs. People from outside the kingdoms, being offered a free line of credit at Beacon to become Hunters. I also need a teacher, NOT a student, to replace Professor Port who fell in battle. **

**So, I need Original Characters. If you don't get into this, don't fret. The character will be saved in a Word document and you WILL pop up somewhere, I some story. Thus far, I have five of them. PM me for details like a Template, if you want a character. I just don't want to waste Word Count on a large Template. **

**Stay Twisted!)**

(Ozpin's Office, Third Person)

Ozpin leaned back in his seat behind his desk, Glynda standing primly just beside him as he looked at the newest additions to Beacon. He calmly sipped from his mug, smiling subtly at the five individuals. "Well, would you care to introduce yourselves?"

A young woman, having arrived early and changed into the school uniform with an added white long-coat, bordered with red, and black elbow length gloves with a large, gold bracelet on her right hand stepped up confidently. Dark red hair, like warm blood, flowed down her back to her waist almost elegantly and her maroon eyes seemed both warm and cold all at once, like a child who'd done too much. That small spark of childlike wonder lingered, muted by something unidentifiable.

"Greetings, Headmaster, Headmistress. My name is Elesis Sieghart, it's nice to meet you." I nodded, smiling disarmingly at her somewhat tense posture.

"Hello, Elesis. I trust you are enjoying your time in our academy thus far?" Ozpin smiled leisurely, sipping his coffee as always.

"Well, it's a far sight from living in the wilderness out near Mistral, sir, but I'll adapt. Always have before." Ozpin smiled amusedly at her confident smirk before nodding slightly, gesturing at the door with his right hand.

"You may go, walk the grounds or get food if you wish. I'll have Miss Goodwitch here send you the details for your dorm assignment later." The young woman nodded simply, taking a Scroll from Glynda before striding out of the room with long strides.

The next new student, a young man with an ornate Grimm mask covering his face walked forward confidently. This was in direct contrast to his Faunus traits, two large mousey ears poking out of his hair and twitching occasionally and a long, brown tail trailing behind him at about a foot in length. Like his team, his outfit was still his combat gear due to traveling through Grimm areas to get to an Airship Pad, having heralded from the wilds in Mistral.

The outfit consisted of a traditional, solid black Yukata jacket over segmented red armor* with a light, plated skirt each plate outlined in white. The armor was worn over a loose, grey monk shirt and loose dark monk pants, held tight around the shins by white wraps to allow freer movement and wearing simple, wooden sandals. Stenciled across the back of his Yukata and the chest-plate, broken and slightly miss-aligned by the separate, shifting plates, was the word 'Trust' in an ancient script (Kanji).

He wore a Grimm mask that covered his nose, eyes and wrapped around where human ears would have been had he possessed them and had a thick black cloth across the back of his head, covering black hair and pale skin alike to hold the Grimm mask on. The mask was a normal one throughout the kingdom, red and black lines intermingling across it decoratively framing eyes, the nose and the brows. He carried a simple Naginata in his hand, leaning it against his shoulder easily.

"Hello, Headmaster Ozpin, it is good to meet you." The young man spoke softly, owing to his heritage no doubt, and bowed his head ever so slightly," My name is Adamu Horu."

"It's nice to meet you, young man." Ozpin bowed his head simply in return, smiling as the boy returned to his spot and his armored partner stepped up, towering above the six foot mouse faunus by a whole foot, rivaling Zanmei's sheer size.

In contrast to his relatively unarmored partner, he was practically covered in metal. It covered nearly every part of his body, save the mouth where Ozpin spotted a small scar going over the right side of his lip. His armor was traditional Mistralian spartiate armor, much like Miss Nikos had used before her injury. However, Miss Nikos was a speed based fighter whereas this young man was a strength based one.

Thick bronze plating covered his arms, legs and chest, with a black, heavily plated armored skirt hanging loosely past his knees. Ozpin could easily remember seeing such armor worn by individuals marching in tight, controlled formations the last time he had been to Mistral, and knew that the skirt was meant to free up movement. Other nations often mocked the skirt wearing men of the Mistralian army, but their laughter always died when they were suggested to fight a unit of them.

His shield, also like classic Mistralian shields, was a six sided piece of polished bronze, backed with black padding around the circular black handle. Emblazoned on the front in large, black letters was the symbol for 'Honor' in the same script as his partner. Despite the scuffs, scratches and dents on the armor and shield, the black paint shined as though freshly painted. The right and left sides were longer than the top and bottom, around six and a half feet long with the tops being two.

His plated chest-plate clanked loudly with each heavy, weighted step much like the rest of him. Like a tide of metal, organic yet rigidly firm and upright when he moved and carrying himself with a steady air. His armor was made up of multiple segments, each segment resting on the next, overlapping ever so slightly. The shoulders were much the same, cascading over the upper half of his upper arm ruggedly. Each plate was forged from the bronze colored Brass-Steel; a metal he knew was quite hard and heavy. Across the chest. Somewhat ironically, was the Kanji for 'Shield'. He wore a tattered black cloak, torn and frayed in many places that covered his back and matched his helm's plume's color with a bright, blood red. His sword was sheathed at his right hip, the same arm holding the shield, marking him as LEFT handed.

"Kris." The large man muttered, eyes obscured behind a black visor that covered his eyes and the bridge of his nose, framed by the bronze colored metal. He gave slight, yet respectful in Mistralian culture, nod and moved back quietly. Ozpin simply nodded, watching him step behind Adamu slightly, shield resting against the floor.

The third young man, wearing no armor aside from light, laminated leather armor bracers and greaves, a black belt hanging loosely around his hips with ten small, thin daggers sauntered up casually, smirking. "Name's Tom. Ya' know, like Tom Cat?" He chuckled dryly, using his dark tail to gesture at his large, black ears. He smirked idly, looking over the young cat Faunus' outfit. His clothing was loose, dark and simple. Owing to a poor money situation, most likely. "Cept the name isn't Tom Cat, its Tom Laufey." The fourth was, in Ozpin's mind, by far the most interesting. She too was a Faunus, but her type was obvious to everyone.

Standing in at just over four feet, the girl-like woman was absolutely adorable even if she was thin as a rail, almost like she didn't get enough food. This, as well as her height, was most likely a direct result of her use of her Faunus traits. Sharp, hard eyes peeked out from thick, wild black hair hanging raggedly around her head, partially hiding small, thin ears. A black mask covered her neck and mouth, much like Zanmei wore, and she wore a baggy green jacket, tied with a black belt around her waist and trailing down past her knees behind her. Large, heavy leather boots encased her feet and legs, up past even the knee so that they nearly touched her shorts. Under her jacket, this opened up just above her belly button to show almost feather-like clothing, white as snow. A kanji for 'Little Bird' was sewn into her jacket over her heart, with blue cloth.

Much like the large, snowy wings sprouting out of her back and hanging to either side of her. From their size, their individual sizes looking around four feet a piece, he assumed she could actually fly. The wings usage would burn massive calories to get her up and mobile, which made her slight size make sense. Strapped to her back, making the wings spread outward in a way that couldn't be comfortable was a massive blade that looked like it was segmented, which piqued Ozpin's interest.

When she spoke, she was quiet. Almost tired or bored, with a slightly high voice like a child," My name is Blue. I don't have a last one, I'm sorry."

"Nonsense, Miss Blue. You cannot help that, so an apology is useless." Ozpin hesitated for a moment, thinking about what he wanted to ask," Excuse any offence I may cause in asking but… Your wings do they work?"

"Yes." She said shortly, nodding curtly and Ozpin couldn't help but smile, fascinated at the sight in front of him.

"Thank you for telling me." Ozpin smiled, leaning back," Your team may be dismissed now, tour the grounds and such. Welcome to beacon." The Quartet filed out quickly, Zanmei walking in several minutes after they had left….

(Zanmei, First person)

"Hello, old friend, what can I do for you?" I sighed at Ozpin's cheer, walking in and sitting down before signing at the man.

"May we speak in private?" Ozpin hesitated, looking over his shoulder hesitantly. Glynda merely huffed, striding out of the room breezily.

"What's wrong?" He asked after I pulled my mask down, and I sighed tiredly, looking at him with a slight twinge of amusement.

"It's Ruby." I signed quickly, and cocked an eyebrow when Ozpin's eyes widened and he smiled wider than I had seen in a long, long time. "What's that look for?"

"Oh nothing, brother. Nothing at all." He set aside his mug, smiling at me unsettlingly. "Now, why don't you tell me what she did?"

"She didn't do anything, she's just…" I paused my signing, unsure of what to say and staring at the floor for a few seconds." She's just Ruby. She's bright, sunny, warm and kind."

"And?"

"I'm unused to it." I signed simply, it doesn't make sense. "She's so nice, and never asks for anything back. She is always around me, dragging me to lunch or to hang out with her friends and team. "

"Does this annoy you?" He asked patiently, steepling his fingers in front of him.

"No, she doesn't annoy me." I signed easily, smiling slightly," Often enough, I find myself looking for her. It just seems odd, that's all."

"She's your friend, she cares about you." His words were simple, said slowly like speaking to a child. "Or does this stem from somewhere?"

"In the forest, during my initiation…. I touched a Grimm's soul." Ozpin's smile vanished immediately, frowning at me hardly. "When its Dark influence started to…. Tear at me, I lashed out and burned my hand to refocus my mind. She got angry and treated my hand."

"I should have warned you, forgive me. The Grimm seem to me to be some machination or… Repercussion perhaps is the right word to use." He took a drink from his mug, setting it next to him. "Somehow, the Dark spawned these beasts. The world seems fine, however, aside from them. I didn't even think about what they'd do to you if you meditated though, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. No harm done." I levelled a look at him," It actually happened twice."

"And?"

"The second time it happened, I pulled back from it. Ruby's soul was bright and warm and I….. It warded off the corruption." I signed quickly, watching Ozpin's face grow pensive.

"I had something similar happen to me." Ozpin sighed tiredly, relaxing in my presence and being more himself. "So what is it you feel around her?"

"Feel?" I signed confusedly, looking at him wonderingly. He simply stared at me patiently for a moment.

"Well, I have noticed that you don't wear your mask when it's just you and her. Why is that?" I shrugged quietly, asking him to elaborate." You only feel comfortable around enough around ME to do that. So what does that say?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm talking to you about it Solaire." He chuckled at my use of his old name, smiling at me faux-condescendingly.

"Just answer me this, which do you prefer? Reading your books, or spending time around her." I held up two fingers, choosing the second option. He smiled mischievously looking at me. "Tell you what, go tell Ruby's sister Yang that I'm sending her an e-mail. She'll help you out." I nodded, hopping up and walking from the office easily, intent on figuring this issue out.

**(A/N: Character Description Notes:**

**Adamu Horu's armor is a traditional Ashigaru chest-piece from the Sengoku period (Just look up Shogun Total War 2). The armored skirt is attached directly to the chest-plate**

**For Kris imagine a cross between a Roman Legionnaire and a Spartan. The chest Plate is Roman, the arms Greek. The Skirt is also Roman, like the shield, and the sword is a Gladius. His leggings are Greek and his helmet is as well. **

**Tom Laufey is modeled, facially as well, after Loki from the Avengers. My sister made me do it. **


	17. The Heart Wants : Part I

**(A/N : Hello, it's everyone's favorite time ever. The Author's Notes! **

**So, at Silver's advising, I'm going to be taking some time in-story to advance some plots and some romance. As I have about the romantic awareness of wet tissue paper, the latter may leave things to be desired. I do apologize for this, truly I do, but I can't help myself. IF anyone wishes to help with that, I am not opposed to re-doing this series of chapters with assistance. **

**Yes, there will be importance to this arc of chapters so they won't just be needless, useless fluff. Such events will be at the end though, so feel free to skip. Though, in a few chapters when I get done with this, don't yell about not getting why person X and person Y are together. **

**Each chapter will cover all the events of one day for every person, each chapter/segment starting on that Monday morning and going to Friday meaning five chapters in all from this. **

**So, sorry about the Author's Note, I'll start the actual story now. Stay Twisted! )**

(Coco's Apartment, Third Person)

"Would you just stop apologizing already?" Cardin grimaced at his young rabbit eared company, wiping down the dining room's table for her. In all the time since the battle, Velvet had heard him apologize at least thirty times for how he treated her. "Yes, you were a ruddy idiot. Yes, it bothered me. And, most importantly, yes I forgive you. Let's just move on, okay?"

"Velvet is right, Cardin. It's like that movie we watched the other day said. "Penny smiled brightly, even as Velvet winced," Just keep swimming!"

"Penny, that doesn't really apply in this situation." Cardin sighed lightly, watching the girl look at him in confusion for a moment. Then she turned to Velvet with that same confused expression, and the young girl just chuckled.

"Don't listen to him, it applies just fine." The young Faunus smiled, sticking her tongue out at the large knight. He opened his mouth to retort but stopped when the sound of a bottle smashing came from Coco's room again. Cardin sighed lightly; this had been going on all night.

Coco had been liked this all night; she'd be fine one moment and snap a few later. She'd go from laughing and smiling to wanting to die, then start crying her eyes out and eventually circle back to laughing. With a groan, Cardin stood up from the table and started walking toward the sounds of cussing and smashing glass. Or rather, Coco's room.

When he pushed the door open, he found Coco in the middle of her ruined room, having once again trashed it, and crying in her black silk suit-styled pajamas. Cardin was used to seeing this sight, and simply checked her over for any cuts or blades. That last part was started after they came in to see her trying to slit her own wrists with a letter opener.

That had certainly been a fright to everyone, though thankfully their resident android and medic Penny and Velvet who had stitched her up after Cardin calmed her down. After that, they had ransacked her room for any sharp objects, only allowing her to keep a bottle of sake, at Cardin's insistence.

Which was now broken against the wall, sake spilled all over the floor much to Cardin's chagrin. He fixed the bed, which the young woman had flipped over in her fit, and picked her up easily before laying her on the bed and retrieving her blanket. After he threw it over her he started picking up the broken glass pieces lying against the wall by the door, tossing them into a bin in the hall. Coco simply watched him work for a few minutes before sighing loudly, getting his attention.

"Why do you try so hard?" She asked him quietly, fully aware of the rabbit eared girl a few rooms over.

"Why shouldn't I?" He answered simply, tossing the shards into a bin with a wince, having nicked his finger on a shard of glass. "You guys are my friends, and you need help. I already failed my OWN team, so I am not going to fail you guys as well. Plus," he raised his voice ever so slightly so the young woman in the dining room could hear;" I kind of owe Velvet for all that time spent harassing her."

Coco actually managed a quiet chuckle when Velvet yelled down the hall," No you don't, you bloody dunderhead!"

"What are you talking about failing your team?" Coco asked seriously making the knights pasted on smile vanish. He frowned at her for a moment, before looking at the floor beside him. "If you failed them, then I failed MY team as well."

"No, your team was broken up into specific jobs. I was right next to mine the whole time. Each one died because I failed to train them right and failed to work with them in the battle." He grimaced at her with a dull ache in his heart," They died because I failed. Your team fell because the Grimm overwhelmed them and cut them down. We WON because of your team's efforts. Mine fell in the first bit of combat."

"It's neither of your faults," Penny said, pushing the door open from where she was sitting on the ground in the hallway. "Just tactically speaking, team CRDL wasn't ready for something like that. And team CFVY was simply too outnumbered to stand a chance either." Velvet nodded sadly, leaning against the wall beside Penny, listening to the android talk.

"Look, I know what happened. I SAW it happen! Sky got killed by a Beowolf lunging for ME because I got too far ahead of them! How the hell isn't it…" He stopped, having realized he had started screaming at them and looked down," Just forget it, okay? I accept that it is my fault. It's just a thing, that's all. I'm fine, I'm moving past it."

"Guys? Can I just…. Take a nap?" The trio simply nodded at the woman, the girls walking down the hall quietly. "And Cardin? Thanks, for helping. I'll be okay." She looked at his back, still facing her," But Penny is right, I know it hurts but neither of us is at fault. It's just war and we got caught up in it."

"Yeah. I guess." And he walked out, returning to the kitchen area for a beer while Penny started cooking some carrots for Velvet. Coco couldn't help the spike of worry that shot through her at his utterly dead sounding voice, and hoped her new friend was truly okay. Quietly, she hopped up and walked over to the small waste bin in the hall.

And dropped a single, long piece of glass into it from its hiding spot in her sleeve.

(Beacon Dorms, Third person)

Jaune walked slowly just behind Pyrrha, carefully watching her hips for any sign of failing as she walked gingerly down the hall. Jaune had made the mistake last night of mentioning how poorly Nora had fared so far and the next morning, she had demanded he take her to visit the girl. Jaune admired that most about her, the fire to help others. That drive and passion to try and make everyone around her that much happier, for absolutely no reason but simply wanting to help people to help them.

Still, he couldn't fight the anxiety every time she had to lean on a wall, or him, for a moment and rest her legs. That was his nature after all, worrying. He did feel somewhat guilty about not worrying about Nora, even with Ren's assurances he was best fit to handle her. He had messaged Ren a few minutes back, telling him they were coming and Ren had said that it'd be good for everyone to have Pyrrha back with them.

When he opened the door to their dorm, he couldn't help his relief at seeing an alive and smiling Nora, even if she looked exhausted and sick, and Pyrrha could finally sit down at a desk in the room. They sat quietly for several minutes, mostly watching Nora twiddle her fingers on her bed and look at Pyrrha nervously. Finally, Jaune spoke up with a sigh.

"Yes, you can hug her. Gently. VERY gently." Jaune chided lightly, seeing Nora shoot up and towards the weaker girl. Nora stopped short of her, nodding at Jaune before leaning down and carefully, but tightly, hugging her friend.

"I was so worried…." The Valkyrie spoke softly, softer than anyone had heard her speak in years and it broke Pyrrha's heart to hear the pain there.

"It's okay Nora, I'm fine and I'm back." They hugged for a while, before Nora returned to her bed. She felt much better, now her team was back together. At least, Nora was well enough to tease her now dating team mates.

Jaune was just happy that Nora was laughing. According to Ren, the loudest noises she'd made while they were gone were her screams a night.

(Schnee Medical Facility, Central Vale City, First Person)

I grunted, carrying several pounds of food for Ruby through the apparently special Schnee medical facility. Ruby had chased me down outside Ozpin's office, and told me that we were visiting Blake and Weiss. Somehow, that included me carrying a few pounds of sweets and a sealed, thankfully, box of Tuna to celebrate Blake's recovery. Yang was already waiting for us, and I made a mental note to corner her about the e-mail later and see what she had to say, so I followed Ruby through the halls and, eventually, into a large room that looked to normally be used for meetings of some kind.

"Oh my god, you two are adorable!" Yang's exclamation caught us off guard when we came through the door, seeing her smiling at the monochromatic duo sitting together on a couch at the far end of the room.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Weiss said sternly, though she did shuffle her feet a bit nervously. And Blake was blushing ever so slightly, refusing to look at anyone.

"Oh really? Then why do you have a red mark." Yang leaned against the table cockily, smiling at the small girl. "And it's on your neck, too."

"I-I don't..."

"It was me, okay, not Weiss." Blake muttered, shrinking into the couch ever so slightly and bushing," She's just been so nice, and sweet… I couldn't help it…. And then I misread a signal and…."

"I'm just teasing you guys. Really, I'm happy for ya. I just want you guys happy," she heard us approaching and turned," Anyways, food time!"

I set the food down on the table, spreading out tins of cookies, brownies and a pie or two, after giving Blake the Tuna which she proceeded to tear into greedily, and I smiled lightly as he plopped down, looking at the red-faced Weiss. She did, in-fact, have a red mark on her collar, mostly hidden by the small jacket she was wearing. That was when Yang's scroll beeped and she flipped it open to read whatever message had popped up.

"Zanmei, you bastard!"

"Zan, run!" Ruby yelled, jumping up from her seat. I merely blinked, turning just as a fist crashed into my face and carried me across the room. "The hell, Yang?" Was the last thing I heard from Ruby, before I passed out.


	18. The Heart Wants : Part II

**(A/N: So, this chapter will cover Tuesday of this week's Arc. **

**Some people questioned why Blake would just suddenly 'attack' Weiss with affection like I alluded to her doing, and I just want to say…. That'll be explained this chapter I promise. **

**So, I do have a question…. Would you guys like to see a few tragic RWBY One Shots? I have a good few ideas in my noggin' and wanted to see if you guys would like to see some, or would just prefer to see more Dusts and Darkness chapters?**

**Well, that's it for my A/N. **

**P.S. NOT my best chapter, sorry guys. Romantic and emotional sense of wet tissues SO I might be kinda clumsy throughout all this. **

**Stay Twisted!)**

(Midtown Vale Sushi, Coco-Velvet-Cardin-Penny, Third Person)

Coco had thoroughly surprised her impromptu room-mates the next morning, when she walked out of her room dressed head to toe in her favorite outfit, having taken a long hot shower, and given herself the full spa treatment. Her three friends had at first wondered why she had done such a turnabout so fast, but were most definitely not about to question it.

So here they found themselves, in Coco's favorite Sushi bar with the sassy leader poking and prodding at her friends like she had always done. Cardin was chuckling quietly at her joking, even as he sipped at the warm sake Coco had bought him. Penny was looking at her rabbit-eared friend oddly, worrying over her bright red face after Coco had made a joke about them.

"What's wrong, Velvet? Are you unwell?" Coco laughed even louder when the android asked that, said bunny-girl only blushing even further and shaking her head to tell the girl she didn't feel unwell.

"Velvy here just doesn't like my teasing, hon. That's all." Coco tossed a bite of sushi, pink salmon and rice with a dab of Wasabi on it.

"I do not understand, you are merely talking about how often we spend time together. Is that so strange for friends to do?" Penny's look of absolute confusion only served to further amuse Coco and Cardin.

"That is normal, hon, but you also go out of your way to spend extra time with her, make her carrots all the time, and help her do everything. That is a bit odd." Coco spoke almost lazily, smirking at the android and blushing Velvet.

"That's just because we're special friends!" The android's smile was as large as Velvet's face was red. The young Faunus 'eeped' quietly and covered her face with her ears as Coco and Cardin laughed loudly and happily. "What's wrong, friends?"

"Nothing, Penny." Cardin smiled, watching the rabbit lean towards the mech slightly before he looked at Coco, leisurely leaning back against the booth's corner with her legs crossed and a small smile on her face while she idly twirled a fork. "For the first time in a good bit, I think everything is just fine."

Coco smiled back at the knight, reaching over and grabbing a piece of sushi off his plate," Yeah, me too." Then she looked at the android and smirked mischievously. "So, you kids kissed yet?"

(Beacon Combat Training Arena, Ren-Nora-Pyrrha-Jaune, Third Person)

"Nora, are you sure you're ready for this?" Jaune asked his friend, watching her nervously shifting Magnhild in her hands, staring at the weapon's handle with a grimace. She'd told them she wanted to fight some drones in the arena, start practicing again. "If you aren't ready, that's fine. You heard Ozpin's announcements at the ceremony, you have time."

"No, I need to see where I stand. If… If I can't fight anymore, I need to know. Before I start attending class again." Jaune sighed, adjusting his shield on his arm and following her into the arena. Ren, standing in as referee, stood above the area with a Scroll in hand, monitoring the fight. Above them, the screens came to life with a picture of Jaune and another of Nora, showing Aura levels and a timer.

The two fighters took positions opposite each other, Jaune watching Nora with concern and Nora just trying to breathe regularly. Ren hated this, but he understood what Nora wanted. She wanted to get better, and she needed to know what was wrong to do that. He raised his hand, swiping down crisply in front of him," Begin."

Pyrrha watched anxiously as Nora shot forward towards Jaune, hammer raised high over her head, and brought Magnhild down on his shield with a loud clang. Jaune deflected the attack easily, rolling away and watching the girl to be sure she was still okay. She smiled slightly, spinning to gain momentum for her next hammer swing which Jaune rolled away from before dashing into her guard and slashing at her stomach. She let the hammer-head smash into the floor and stepped behind it, evading Jaune's strike before pulling the trigger on the handle, firing a grenade into the floor to send her into the air and away from the blonde knight.

However, instead of her careening into the air her hammer went flying up and into the seats. Luckily, they were empty; otherwise students would have been crushed by it. Jaune and Ren both cussed loudly, watching their team mate collapse to her knees with wide, tear and terror filled eyes. She started to shake violently, seeing images of smoke, and blood, and the limbs of men and women flying out from her grenade's detonation.

Ren reached her first, pulling her into a hug against his chest and picking her up in his arms to run towards the medical area, fearing a panic attack or flash back. Jaune and Pyrrha followed slowly, the young woman still needing to step carefully. When they arrived, Nora was sleeping after being sedated by the nurse to stop her attack. Ren looked up at the duo wearily, a sense doubled by his voice when he spoke.

"She can't fire her cannon, it seems. She'll break down if she does it again." He looked down at the sleeping girl, placing a hand on the side of her head," She can't fight with that weapon ever again."

The team was torn, split in half by scars and wounds on both body and mind. Both the young men had lost their partners in a way some would call worse than dying.

(Schnee Vale Medical Facility, Zanmei, First person)

"What the hell was that, Yang!?" Ruby yelled angrily, from somewhere off to my right," Where do you get off just hitting him? He's been out for hours!"

"He's fine, Ruby. The doctors said he just had a very minor concussion and a broken nose." Blake's calm voice could almost always defuse a situation, always as the voice of calm reason. But it didn't seem like it would work for this situation.

"I don't care! I want her to apologize for hitting Zan!" Ruby sounded like she was crying, and the voices sounded like they were coming through a door or wall.

"I'm not apologizing for a damn thing!" Why was Yang mad? I didn't do anything to her, so why'd she knock me out? I rolled to my side, head throbbing painfully. "And I'm tempted to hit him again. I woulda' done it last night if you hadn't blocked me!"

"Yeah, well I'll do it again if I have too. And this time, I'll disable my Aura." They got quiet for a minute while I tried to steady my spinning head," Yang…. I get why you're upset, really I do. But don't be."

"And why the hell shouldn't I be mad at that creep for thinking about you like that?" Yang was practically screaming, in spite of what sounded like Weiss trying to make her stop. "You read the e-mail from Ozpin! He wants MY help with getting with you!"

"Well…. Why don't you give it then?" Ruby snapped angrily, and I finally managed to channel enough souls to remedy my spinning head and walked towards the door.

"Why should I?" Yang asked loudly, just as I grabbed the nob and started opening the door into the hall. Apparently, they'd put me in a small bedroom like room in the facility, so I assumed there was a hall on the other side.

"Cuz' I was gonna ask you for the same thing!" I paused, staring at Ruby's back as everyone's eyes locked onto me. Her statement had managed to quiet Yang, though she did glare at me heavily. Ruby noted them looking behind her, and did the same.

I blinked, waving slightly and covering my lower face with my hand before yanking the mask back up. Ruby just stared at me, blinking a few times, before she blushed bright red and vanished in a flash of rose petals.

"Great." Weiss grumbled lightly in the small conference room, the same I had been in when Yang hit me. "Now we have to track down the speed demon."

Yang stomped towards me, pushing Blake aside roughly and into Weiss, before grabbing me by the throat and slamming me into a wall. When she looked at me, she had red eyes and I struggled against her grip on my throat before she punched me in the stomach and dropped me. "Now you listen to me and answer me, yeses and nos. Got it?" I nodded.

"You like my sister?" A nod. "You gonna take care of her? Protect her?" Two more nods, though I wanted to quip that I had been doing the latter at every chance I got but simply started trying to pull myself to my feet. Yang grunted, planting boot in my gut and pushing me back down.

"Zan, just….. Deal with it for a second." Blake muttered, standing with Weiss by the table and sighing," She's CONSIDERING helping you out. So just… go with it."

"Next question, asshole, you promise not to fuck up and hurt her?" I nodded, giving up and laying on the floor uncomfortably with Yang leaning on top of me, a boot on my gut. "Good, 'cuz I WILL end you if you do." I chuckled dryly, nodding. As if killing me were so easy to do. "Good." She stepped back, offering me a hand to help me stand up. "Just so you know, I'm NOT okay with this. I'm only helping you to help my sister, got it?"

I nodded, rubbing my stomach lightly in mock pain," You're lucky the brute didn't kill you." Weiss said amusedly," Now can we please go find the dolt?" I sighed, and we split up to find her. Eventually, after several hours, Yang sent us all a message saying Ruby was back at Beacon and that we'd meet up in the morning. I asked how she got there and was told that, when pressed, Ruby could cross most distances very, very quickly. But she'd exhausted herself doing it and was sleeping now.

Yang had, unfortunately, caught the last Airship to Beacon for the day, so Weiss offered to let me use the room I'd been in and I back tracked to it to lie down. By the time I had arrived, one door was closed with a sign saying Weiss' name on it and the other, next to it, was open. I assumed it was mine as it was the actual room I had been in and was the only one available. Later in the night, bored and not yet ready to sleep, I opted to go for a walk. When I walked into the conference room, the door by mine was coated in a thin layer of frost or ice. I elected to ignore it, assuming it was something Weiss did by accident, and continued on my walk.


	19. The Heart Wants : Part III

**(A/N: So, I hope everyone is enjoying these latest chapters. Here's Wednesday's chapter, Thursday's will be out as soon as possible. By the way, if you have ANY questions simply post it in a review or Private message me. I'll answer as soon as I see the message which, as some readers can attest, is very quick. Love you guys!)**

(Ozpin's Office, Third Person, morning)

Ozpin frowned sadly, looking at the young man in front of him. Jaune had been waiting by his office door that morning, and had insisted on speaking with him before anything else was said or done. Ozpin had watched the arena live from his office when they used it, having been the one to okay it in the first place. He had seen firsthand Nora's break down after using Magnhild's grenades.

"What can we do, Professor?" Ozpin looked at Jaune, calm if somewhat concerned looks on both their faces. Ozpin sighed quietly, leaning back in his chair and sipping his freshly brewed mocha.

"Have your team meet your new team-mate. I'll send her around later this afternoon. Elesis can help, I'm sure of it." He nodded easily, smiling slightly;" Meanwhile, I'll schedule appointments for her in Vale with the best psychologist I know."

"B-but I can't pay for that, Professor." Jaune's burst of hope quickly snuffed itself out, sitting in the chair and counting with his fingers how little he could contribute. Ozpin had already decided he would foot the bill himself, but he simply smiled at the boy and waited for several minutes. Then Jaune looked up at the aged Undead warrior turned Headmaster with a guilty expression," Could I, uh, borrow it from you? I'll pay you back I swear!"

"No need, Mister Arc. I will pay for her treatment entirely, you don't need to worry." Ozpin simply chuckled when the boy started to splutter, smiling warmly at his young student. Wordlessly, he pulled out his Scroll and wired around fifty-thousand Lien to him for treatment costs. The boy jumped when his Scroll beeped, before his eyes widened at the alert's message.

"S-seriously? That's…. Wow, thank you headmaster! I can't ever thank you enough for this!" Ozpin simply nodded, watching the boy run excitedly out of the room, presumably to tell Nora the news. Ozpin couldn't help but laugh, quickly messaging the details for the psychiatrist to Jaune's scroll, as well as messaging his friend.

(With Jaune, JNPR dorm)

Jaune took a deep breath, pushing his door open nervously. Nora was sitting with Ren, the boy having refused to leave her side for anything longer than using the bathroom ever since her break down, and curled into him. Pyrrha was lying on his bed, stretching her back out to ease the pain from pushing herself too far. He walked over to her, sitting by her stomach and taking her hand before he turned to Ren and smiled.

"Professor Ozpin says that Nora can stay on while she gets treated by a psychiatrist he knows." Jaune shared simply, smiling when Ren's eyes lit up at the news. "And he's footing the bill too! Already gave me fifty grand to start with. His message says that he'll give me more when I start to run low, too."

"That's good, Jaune. Good work," the young knight looked down at his new girlfriend, shielding her eyes from the bright light with her other arm. "I just hope it helps."

"It's worth a shot, right Nora?" Jaune looked at the orange haired girl who just forced a smile and nodded quietly, Ren hugging her slightly tighter to his side with a grimace.

"When's the first appointment?" Ren asked quietly, reaching up and patting Nora's head idly.

"Didn't say. I guess we have to wait for a message?" He looked down a Pyrrha as she adjusted so Jaune would have room to lie down if he wanted, grunting when her back moved and a shot of pain when up her spine. "Still hurting?"

"Yes. To both your questions, actually." Jaune smiled at the girl, squeezing her hand lightly before looking at Ren.

"How's she doing?" He asked quietly, watching the once boisterous girl shrink even further into a small ball under her pink and black blanket, snuggling against Ren's side.

"I'm okay now." She said meekly, smiling thinly again before letting the forced smile fall away," I'm just tired, and that's all."

"Promise?" Jaune asked her, half-jokingly and getting a look from Ren that said not to mess with her right now. He held his hands up in mock surrender, and Nora actually chuckled quietly. "So, who wants pancakes?"

Everyone chuckled slightly, minus Nora, and Jaune started to head for the door just as the lock beeped and it swung open, admitting a young woman in. She paused, a trio of heavy looking bags over her shoulder and waved," Uh, hi guys. I'm Elesis Sieghart. Mister, uh, Ozpin said I could find my team here?"

"What team?" Ren asked quietly, Jaune's eyes widening at the realization that he hadn't told them.

"Team JNPR." She said evenly, tossing two of her bags unceremoniously into the closet. "The Headmaster said I should go ahead and come meet everyone."

"Well," Jaune started with a sigh," I'm Jaune Arc, the team's leader."

"Lie Ren and this is Nora Valkyrie," Ren said evenly, squeezing the young berserker's shoulders to indicate her.

"I'm Pyrrha Nikos. The cripple you're replacing." Jaune sighed, squeezing her hand at her morose tone.

"Pyrrha, no one is going to replace you. You're our team-mate, and MY girlfriend, until we all die." He gave her a hard, stern look straight in her eyes," You got that?"

"Y-yes Jaune, I got it." He smiled, all seriousness gone in a flash, and leaned down to give her a peck on the cheek. When he pulled back, Pyrrha was beet red and he chuckled.

"Good." He turned to the new girl, smiling welcomingly," Well, uh, welcome to JNPR's dorm I guess." Elesis nodded coolly, and started finding places for her gear to rest safely away from prying eyes.

(Coco's apartment, Third Person, around noon)

Penny was content, sitting in Coco's living room at mid-day with Velvet's sleeping head on her lap, idly stroking her long ears. Cardin and Coco were currently out, shopping for groceries which, Penny noted, seemed too often to mean alcohol as opposed to anything else.

Her searches on human behavior had worried her at first, until she cross referenced it in her database with extremely traumatic events. She was still worried, if only for a different reason. She had tried asking Velvet about it, but the girl had gotten upset. So, penny used a search combining her behavior pattern, the trauma, her nature, basic psychology and recent events between the two for the best course of action. Upon getting her result back, within ten seconds of beginning the search, Penny had acted as best observed to be useful in such scenarios.

And the android had grabbed her face gently, before kissing the young Faunus. When Penny pulled back, she quickly compiled a secondary search routine to decide the next best course of action. This took three seconds, and the result was useless. It recommended stepping away to let the other person think for a moment, to avoid causing offenses to them.

Such a thing was proved to be impossible when Velvet had tackled her to the couch and started kissing her back, while Penny kissed her and ran a dozen search routines, algorithms and internal protocol checks to decide what to do. According to her searches and checks, her decision rested on the desired outcome. The desired outcome was for Velvet to not be sad. She added that to the reference and it came back that she should continue as she was doing until Velvet ended it. That took fifteen minutes, after which Velvet had quietly curled up with the android and gone to sleep.

When Coco walked in the door, laughing quietly, and saw the girl asleep on Penny's lap with both their hair and clothes mussed and Penny having lipstick on her neck and face, Penny couldn't quite understand why the other two smiled so widely. Nor why they both simply left the groceries in the kitchen and left. Curious, she started another internal search and resumed stroking Velvet's ears.

Idly, she noticed how soft they felt. That was compiled and stored in her memory core's central processing units as 'critical data'. Penny ran a search as to why it merited such a designation, and got an internal error. No information was available to explain its designation as critical. However, instead of powering down and running an emergency virus detection sweep, she simply accepted the error and continued to soothe Velvet.

(Zanmei, RWBY's dorm, First Person, around three in the afternoon)

Yang had shown up and dragged me out of my room by force that morning, getting all four of us on an airship to Beacon as soon as she could. Then she'd dragged me, followed by an amused Blake and oddly happy looking Weiss, into their dorm. Where Ruby was still sleeping, at one in the afternoon.

Now, we were both sitting on a bed, though I wasn't sure who it belonged to. Honestly however, my concerns were evenly divided between Yang hitting me again and the dangling bed overhead falling on me. Weiss and Blake had decided to sit at the desk, the former taking the seat while the latter sat ON the desk. Yang simply stood in front of me and Ruby, fists on her hips. Idly, and nervously, I noted Ember Celica fastened to her wrists and sincerely began to worry for my own safety.

Yang sighed loudly after several minutes, sitting on the opposite bed," So, let me just be sure I have all of this right." She pointed at me," Ruby, you like this guy?"

"Y-yeah," she muttered, face reddening a bit and poking her index fingers together nervously," I do... So please don't hit him anymore!" She half yelled the last, eyes squeezed closed for a moment.

"That's to be decided." Yang said dismissively, then pointed at Ruby," Zan, you like my sister." I nodded uneasily, not sure of either her definition of 'like' or whether that had been a question. "Fine. I know how this stuff is, so I'm not even going to fight this." Ruby seemed to relax at the news, shoulders loosening before Yang continued. "BUT it's by MY rules."

"Rule One, NO kissing in front of me. Period. I will BREAK his legs." I swallowed nervously, nodding even though I didn't know what a kiss was. I'd just ask Blake later. "Rule two; I know where you are, when you are there. You go on a date? You tell ME first." I nodded at that one too, simply glad to know what she was talking about. "And lastly, rule THREE. The most important. No, and I mean NO, sex."

"Y-Yang!" Ruby squealed, turning bright red and jumping up," I-It's not like that! Zan isn't like that!"

"Trust me, Rubes, ALL guys want that." I scratched the back of my head, raising my hand. "What do you want?" Yang snapped.

I looked at Blake, signing quickly. She blinked, looking at me," Uh, say that again?" I groaned inaudibly, signing my question again," Uh, he is asking, um… What's sex?" I nodded happily when she finally got my question and looked at Yang and Ruby.

Ruby was blushing madly, making a strange sound like pent up energy and shaking where she was standing. Yang just blinked several times, mouth in an odd 'O' shape, before recovering," Uh, well, Blake tell him!"

"Why do I have to?!" Blake asked incredulously, blinking several times.

"Because YOU TWO," she pointed at Weiss and Blake," are the only ones who've HAD sex." The monochromatic duo both blushed, starting to splutter incoherently.

"Yang, if he doesn't k-know what it is, doesn't that make it LESS likely he'll m-make a move?" Ruby asked quietly, rubbing her left arm nervously," S-soyoudon'tneedtoworryaboutitbecausewewon'tdoitbecausehedoesn'tknowwhatitsiandIdon'twannadoitso-"

"Ruby, breathe!" Yang yelled with a slight laugh," You're right. So NO ONE here is gonna explain it to him." The three girls nodded easily, though Ruby was still red faced. "Alright then, now for the fun part." She smiled evilly at us," You two are going on a date tomorrow, and I'm planning it!"

**(A/N: So, ideas for Ruby and Zan's first, Yang chaparoned and certified date?)**


	20. The Heart Wants : Part IV : Date!

**(A/N: So, I have decided that this chapter will include Zan and Ruby's date, but will NOT be separate as a chapter from the rest. This will mean that this chapter took a bit longer than normal, as it will BE longer. **

**So, I had a question from a friend of mine who reads this story. Last chapter, I referenced Zanmei not knowing what sex was but, in an earlier chapter he asked if 'fucking' was sex. Well it's like a kid. He thinks sex is something different from what it is, and only asked because they were all making a deal about it. Imagine a child, what would a child think sex is unless you explain it?**

**Now bear in mind through every event and piece of dialogue that Zan was alone in the dark of his cell for centuries and centuries. He may be a metal Titan capable of slaying hordes of monsters if he lets loose, but he's got next to no idea about things outside of what he's been taught. Mainly, Solaire taught him things like history and fighting not things like romance and sex. **

**So, I hope that helps. Sorry guys, for the issue there. Anyway, this chapter will cover Thursday of that week. Tomorrow will be Friday's, so I want to know if I should stay with one chapter meaning one day or not. If not, I would appreciate advice on how to handle it. **

**Stay Twisted!)**

**(Weiss and Blake, Beacon Library, Third Person)**

The odd couple was sitting in the library, simply reading together to pass time. Weiss was studying Faunus natures and traits, as well as writing her father a letter to tell him about her new girlfriend. Blake was just reading Ninjas of Love.

Again.

In spite of Weiss' disliking that book.

Then Sun spotted them, jogging up to Blake's side quickly and smiling down at her," So, deciding to let your ears out? Nice. They're kinda cute." Blake grunted quietly, turning another page and hoping he would go away. Sun took this, incorrectly, as a signal to sit down and dragged a chair over to sit in, casually flipping open a comic. They sat quietly for a minute before he started talking again," So! I was wonderin' if you wanted to go out this weekend. I know a great sushi place."

"No, thank you." Blake answered shortly, looking across at Weiss worriedly," How's the letter coming?"

"It's coming slowly. You do realize he won't just let us go, right? I barely got him to let you have those implanted knees. This is pushing it beyond any reasonable bounds though, especially as you're a Faunus." Weiss said simply, typing and deleting a line over and over to get it right.

"Whoa, implanted knees?" Sun said loudly, getting a glare from both the girls," Sorry, sorry! But seriously, what about implanted knees?"

"Blake suffered a serious injury in the battle, when she saved me from an Ursa. I pulled some strings to replace the bones with the best the Schnee Dust Company could get for her." Weiss growled lowly in her throat when Sun started eyeing her girlfriend's legs worriedly. "She's fine, Sun. Quit eyeing her like a slab of fucking meat."

Both Faunus gave her surprised looks for a moment, though Blake's quickly melted into one of understanding and she smiled. Sun raised his hands in surrender," Whoa now, why so hostile? Just worried about the kitty cat."

Weiss glared at the boy angrily, about to retort when Blake jabbed him in the stomach," Look at her neck, Sun. Then you'll get it."

Sun nodded, leaning forward while Weiss pulled her jacket open slightly, showing a small bruise with two punctures, like a bite. "No way…. You marked her? Do you get what this means, Princess?"

"Yes, I do." She muttered, straightening her collar and leaning back to work on her letter. "And I have to tell my father, head of the Schnee Company and MAJOR racist, that I'm mated to a Faunus."

"Ooh, that sounds fun." Sun muttered, immediately scooting away from Blake out of respect for Weiss. "What's he gonna do though? Not like he could just kill you two." Weiss just froze, fingers lingering over the keys on her scroll. Blake just reached out with her leg, crossing her leg with Weiss' own comfortingly.

"That's exactly what he's likely to do, Sun. I'm a shame on the Schnee name for this." She sighed, rubbing her shin against Blake's nervously. "I'm stepping down as his heiress, and I hope that's enough to at least keep Blake alive. He'll probably try and kill me just out of sheer annoyance or to save face."

"I won't let him harm a hair on your head, Weiss." Blake growled, eyes flashing dangerously and closing her book. She wasn't interested in it anymore anyways. "He'll have to go through me first."

"Blake is right, and I got your back too." Sun said confidently, slamming a fist into his open palm," Ain't no way he can get past us!" Weiss just smiled thinly, sighing as she sent her message. Short and sweet, just saying what had happened and her decision.

"You guys don't get it. He won't stop, ever. Assassins, hit-men, anything he needs to send he'll send. He has unlimited resources." She smiled grimly at the two Faunus," I accepted how this would end for me already; I don't want you guys to die because of this."

"I thought you said you understood what being marked meant." Sun growled angrily, slamming a fist into the table. He hated when people just gave up and accepted their 'fate' like some whipped dog. Blake nodded in agreement with Sun, already looking around nervously for threats.

"I-I do, Sun, but-"

"No! No buts!" He glared at her stubbornly," Blake is my friend, and she marked you. I WILL defend you both to the death, and gladly so. Hell, you have a walking TANK who is friends with you and your team, ask him for help. And you have a TEAM."

Blake cut in," Zan would die for any of us, I'm sure of it. And I doubt Ozpin would allow any harm to come to his friends, you've seen how close they are. Ruby and Yang wouldn't even think of letting this happen either. So just-"

"No!" Weiss screamed loudly, feeling her eyes tear up. "You'll all die, and then I'll die anyway. Just… let me enjoy what time I have, okay?"

"I'm sorry, Weiss." Sun muttered, standing up and walking past her. "I can't just let this happen to you, and its fine to hate me for it." He looked over his shoulder at Blake," When the time comes, call on team SSSN. We'll stand by you to the end. You have to take care of Blake now, Princess. You aren't getting away so damned easily."

Sun didn't wait for their response, disappearing around the book shelf and jogging out of the room. He needed to find Neptune, and he needed to do it now.

Blake looked at Weiss, seeing her crying lightly as the tears eventually froze and fell from her face. She looked at Blake fearfully, reaching a hand out across the desk. Blake took it, smiling understandingly and squeezed the hand gently, ignoring how cold it was. "I'm sorry, Weiss, but when you die I'll die anyway. That's how it works with us." Weiss nodded acceptingly, grabbing Blake's hand with her other and started to cry quietly while Blake sat there.

Blake would be damned if she was simply going to allow this to happen, after everything. She knew just who to call too, for a safe haven they could run to. Silently, she typed a short message on her scroll and sent it on its way to a number she hadn't used in a long, long time. Hopefully, he'd help.

**(JNPER [Formally JNPR] Dorm, Third person)**

Ren sighed as; once again, Nora woke up screaming from a nightmare while he showered. He quickly killed the water and threw his clothes on, running out of the bathroom worriedly. Jaune and Pyrrha were out getting food, and Elesis was simply sitting on the floor with an odd look on her face. He slid to a stop next to Nora's bed, gently pulling her into a hug. The girl woke up fully then, crying into his chest loudly and Ren was surprised when Elesis stepped up behind him, tapping his shoulder.

"What?" He hissed in an annoyed way, a surprise even to him, and looked up at her. She didn't seem upset by his words, instead smiling lightly at him.

"Give us the room? I need to talk to her." She said simply, stepping away so he'd be able to leave.

"Why should I?" He asked lowly, glaring at her. "Nora needs me to-"

"She needs you to leave, so someone who understands what's happening to her and can help her." She still didn't seem upset in the slightest, merely speaking as if he were a child. "Just wait in the hall it'll only take a second."

He nodded warily, letting Nora lay down tiredly and walking out of the room," I'll be just outside, Nora. Call if you need me." The girl nodded as the door closed, watching the handle return to its normal position.

"Nightmares, right?" Elesis asked quietly, sitting by Nora's bed at a small desk. Nora simply nodded, and Elesis smiled simply before leaning towards her. "It'll help to tell someone what happened, trust me. And I won't judge you for whatever it is." She sighed when the girl shook her head, and decided to take a leap. She leant down, pulling her hair aside gently and showing Nora her wounds.

"A-are those…."

"My ears? Yes. I'm a Faunus, and some thugs got me one time and cut them off. Same for my tail." She leaned back, looking at the girl regretfully," Now you know MY secret, so tell me yours."

"Promise not to tell Ren?" Elesis nodded evenly, and Nora took a shaky breath," In the battle I… I panicked and fired my grenades at some Grimm…. But they were fighting people and the grenades…. they…."

"Killed them?" Elesis offered easily, watching the girl nod and start crying. She rubbed the side of her head comfortingly," That happens. It was your first ever major battle and you panicked. Honestly, if you HADN'T panicked I'd be more worried."

"B-but those people…."

"Are dead, and there's nothing anyone can do about it except keep moving forward. As a result of your action, they will never get to live. So live for them, experience what they can't." Elesis hopped up breezily, smiling down at the younger girl," It's not the best end, but it IS the best option now. And I get you not wanting that buy to know."

"So, do you hear okay?" Elesis chuckled dryly, smiling and nodded.

"I still have my internal ears, hun. Just don't have the outsides." With that, Elesis went and allowed Ren to return to the room. Ren wondered why Nora's exuberance had, even if only slightly, returned when he came back into the room, as did Jaune and Pyrrha. But they were just happy she was back.

**(Zan and Ruby, Cinnamon Central, Vale, First person)**

I looked behind me, adjusting my mask idly and waving at Yang who was sitting in the booth behind ours. Unamused, she simply glared at me and gave me an 'I'm watching you' gesture with her fingers. I sighed, looking at Ruby as she nibbled on a cookie nervously before I knocked on the table and started scribbling on my small note-pad. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just nervous with Yang staring at me like that…." I nodded, covering my mouth to pop a small piece of cinnamon roll into my mouth. Gods, did I love these things. "That and, well…. I've never been on a date before. So…"

"Neither have I, didn't even know what one was until Yang explained it this morning." He thought for a moment before scribbling a bit more," Is it that important of a thing here?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, everyone says it is… So it must be, right?" She looked worriedly over my shoulder and I sat up straighter, blocking Yang from her view to try and make her relax.

"A lot of people also say Faunus are scum. Put stock in what you feel and believe, not what they do." Ruby nodded after reading that, before motioning for me to give her my pen. I hesitantly handed the small black cylinder over, and she started scribbling on a fresh page.

"So just pretend it's not a date then?" she muttered, sliding the pad over to me. It was a doodle of Yang hanging from a tree, and I chuckled internally when I saw it before nodding at her question. "Okay, I guess I can do that." Then she proceeded to inhale all of her cookies and sit back with a contented sigh. "Much better~"

I smiled, tossing another small piece of Cinnamon roll into my mouth and looking around to see if anyone in the sparsely populated restaurant had noticed. Luckily, they hadn't and, when I looked back at Ruby, she was glaring at me.

"You're hiding your face again. Stop doing that." I grabbed my pad, jotting down a message to her quickly.

"I don't want to bother anyone or get you made fun of."

"I don't care if they make fun of me, Zan. People are dummies, I know that." She grumbled, reaching over and trying to snag my mask. I sighed, letting her yank it down. She smiled and leaned back as another batch of cookies was delivered by the waitress who looked at us both with a smile. This quickly evaporated into a look of disgust when she saw my face, though she did try to conceal it. He grunted quietly, looking away from her and out the window. The waitress quickly left, leaving behind a somewhat awkward silence. "Sorry Zan that was bad timing. Wasn't it?"

"Its fine," I signed casually, knowing the basic words would be understood. I spotted her out of the corner of my eye, looking like she would cry and added," Not your fault, and I'm not mad."

"Promise?" She asked quietly, looking at me with wide silver eyes. I simply nodded, and her demeanor did a flip, smiling widely and scarfing down a cookie. "Kay! So, where ya from?"

I hesitated for a moment, thinking. I didn't actually know where I was from; I'd forgotten it all those years ago in that accursed, bleak Asylum. I simply grabbed the note pad, and started writing. "It's a long, and strange, story. I'll tell you when it's just us so I may answer any questions you'll almost certainly have. For now, just say I came from outside the kingdoms."

"Okay then, I'll ask later… So, do you have any family? I have my," she raised her voice slightly," OVERPROTECTIVE sister." I hesitated for a moment, laughing silently when a Spork thumped off of Ruby's forehead lightly. He sat for a moment, thinking to himself about what to say and, more importantly, what was safe to say to her.

So I grabbed my note pad, and spent several hours telling her about my brother Solaire, and when we first met on a bridge in a faraway place and, together, slew a dragon. Of course, I replaced the Hellkite Drake with a Shadow-Serpent so she wouldn't question the name. She read the story intently once I finished, and I took the opportunity to write her another letter," Your sister merely wishes to care for you. It is a natural instinct to protect that which you care for."

"So people protect those they care about?" I nodded easily," Why'd you risk yourself to defend Professor Ozpin then?" I hesitated momentarily, realizing my error only after the surprisingly perceptive comment. "Is he… your brother?" She whispered, watching Yang over my shoulder. I nodded, quickly grabbing my note pad and scribbling.

"You can't tell anyone though, about what I just told you. Ozpin would be upset." Ruby nodded, zipping her lips with her hand and smiling at me as Yang walked up to our side.

"Okay kiddies, times up." Yang said quietly, and Ruby started pouting, waving her arms around frantically. "Nuh uh, you can give him a hug. But we're headed back to Beacon. Separately." She glared at me and Ruby sighed, hopping up and walking over to me. She leaned over giving me a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek, before Yang grabbed her and threw her over her shoulder.

I chuckled quietly, chewing on another cinnamon roll and paying for our food before leaving and going for a walk and enjoy the dying rays of the warm and glorious sun.

**(Coco's Apartment, Third Person, Evening)**

"So," Cardin started slowly, looking at the half naked Penny in Velvet's destroyed bedroom. "What the hell?"

Penny looked at the young man, then at Coco who was struggling not to laugh and then at Velvet, who was blushing brightly, clutching a blanket to her chest. She ran a brief search on the best outcome to this scenario and came back with a conclusion a moment later.

"Velvet and I were cleaning her room, she got upset, and so I kissed her again." Penny simply threw an arm over Velvet's shoulders and smiled innocently," Then Velvet and I started to have sex and you walked in."

Coco collapsed into laughter, Velvet blushed and hid behind her ears and Cardin sighed, walking out the door. "Well, try and keep it quiet at least! Okay?"

When they were gone, Penny turned to her trembling friend," What's wrong?"

"Why did you tell them that?" She asked quietly, curling up meekly. "Now Coco is gonna tease us to no end."

"Because my recent searches tell me we are in a relationship now, yes?" Velvet nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Penny. "Then I have to tell you something. I was not allowed to do so before, as we were only friends."

"Okay?" Velvet asked quietly, watching the young Android fiddle with her fingers nervously before reaching over and grabbing her hand.

"Promise we'll at least still be friends?" Velvet nodded easily, after all what could Penny tell a Faunus that would dissuade them? "Well, I'll start with my actual name then. I am designation P-3 Networked Neuro Unit, part of the Atlesian Defense project. Specifically, the cyber warfare and special anti-Grimm corps. Though the Schnee Company's Autonomous Artificial Intelligence research divisions helped." She looked at Velvet's dumbstruck face for a moment," You're… upset?"

"Surprised. Just…. Surprised." She said quietly, hesitating a bit," So, can you prove this? It's just… hard to believe. I mean, you FEEL human."

Penny nodded, leaning over and pulling her hair away," There's a small indentation, press it." Velvet did as she was told, pressing the small indentation. A piece of Penny's neck whirred, sliding away to show a small key-pad. "That's an emergency interface for my superiors to use, if I get out of hand. They can also over ride me and shut me down if they want to."

"So, you really are an android…"

"Yeah, I'll understand if you don't want to continue-Hmph!" Velvet silenced her by dragging her onto her back and kissing her with a smile. Velvet knew better than to judge someone based on what they were, she had felt that pain enough times. And after all Penny had done for her, she could easily see past it.

**(A/N: Ideas for Grimm are welcomed! Please, submit up to three in a review.**

**Shadow-Serpent: A Drake-like Grimm covered in alternating black and white scales with a single large, bony mask on its face. Known for its torrents of fire and resilience, this breed of Grimm is thankfully rare and rather easy to kill if you have any manner of anti-air based weaponry. Flak is preferable, and engaging without potent ranged weaponry is highly advised against.**


	21. The Heart Wants : Part V : End

**(A/N: So, this marks the final part of this arc. The first chapter of the next one will be up shortly, and I hope you guys enjoy it. I would like to apologize dearly and sincerely for taking so fracking long with this chapter, I had to repair my computer. Took all day, but as soon as it went up I began work on this chapter. And yes, this will be a VERY short one. Sorry, it's mostly just a Segway into the next arc.)**

(Zanmei, School Forges, First person)

I lifted my chain-mail, inspecting it as per my usual routine for any nicks, scratches, or rust. Satisfied, I returned the chainmail to the armor mannequin and started inspecting the plates, mainly concerned for the leather straps and buckles rather than the plated metal.

"So, I'm bored!" Ruby quipped from my bed, lying on her stomach with Yang sitting next to her. Both were watching me clean and maintain my equipment. Ruby had wanted to clean Crescent Rose with me and Yang had decided to chaperone us again, which had annoyed Ruby and amused me in equal measure. Ruby had finished about half an hour ago, and I had only just finished getting ready to clean and look over my entire arsenal when she plopped onto my bed to watch.

"Then can we leave?" Yang asked tiredly, and I spotted Ruby toss her a glare out of the corner of my eyes, adjusting my mask as I shined the steel of my plates and tightened or replaced the straps and buckles. Seeing Ruby's glare, Yang sighed and collapsed onto the bed.

"But seriously, how much longer?" Ruby asked quietly, twiddling a strand of her hair idly and rolling onto her back. With a sigh, I opted to not check every intricate inch of my chest plates and started reassembling the armor on the mannequin, which seemed to excite both the women who assumed this meant I was nearing completion.

Then I plopped down and started to clean and shine both my swords and my shield and the girls groaned loudly, making me smile and sigh, offering my straight-sword to Ruby along with a rag and some oil. She flashed to my side in a flurry of petals, looking at the sword's nicked and scratched blade with starry eyes.

"I can work on it?!" I nodded and she gently, almost reverently, took the ancient sword and sat beside me, oiling the rag and using it to clean the sword's edges, even digging into the nicks and scratches to make it really shine through. Occasionally, I'd point at a spot of ornamentation and ask her to take special care with it, but she was rather proficient with maintain weapons.

I idly watched her working from the corner of my eye, cleaning and polishing my own shield religiously. Yang watched this with boredom etched into every inch of her face," Why do you two work so damn hard on making it shine like that? Just get the blood off the metal and its fine right?"

"No, not for weapons like these," I signed, Ruby translating them easily now that she'd practiced some more. "These sorts of weapons are not like disposable cartridges and shells, they are extensions of me. Like extensions of my body or soul, I take care of these."

"Uh huh. Well, they're just hunks of metal to me." Yang shrugged, walking over to my fridge and rifling through its contents boredly.

"It's like your hair, Sis." Ruby offered quietly, checking the sword carefully to make sure she had cleaned it completely before offering it to me. I gave it a quick look over, and slid it into its sheath before standing up and placing it on my armor mannequin's waist, my shield leaning against the wall beside it. Then I sat on the chair for the final part of the job, cleaning and sharpening my great-sword.

I leaned the sword against my leg, carefully cleaning every inch of it, down to the most minute crack and chip, until it gleamed darkly up at me, looking freshly forged if not for the scratches and chips that adorned it like ornamentation or battle scars. Many would see the former, while he and a select few would understand them as the latter. Next, he honed its edge to a razor-like sharpness and polished it again, from top to bottom.

"Ya know," I looked over at Yang and Ruby, the former having spoken," You are kind of intense about that sword." I nodded, chuckling inaudibly and walked past them to lay the sharpened sword, wrapped in protective leather, against the wall by the head of my bed. "Done now?" I smiled behind the cloth mask, nodding breezily," Finally! Now, let's go get our school stuff together and show Zan where everything is."

"Why can't I just do it by myself?" Ruby whined loudly, throwing her arms in front of her in frustration.

"Because then you'd be alone with your boyfriend," Yang said casually, looking over her shoulder at her sister with a fist on her hip," And Mama Yang isn't havin' any of that." I smiled, following the bickering sisters around the school to see the sights and learn the layout. Such observations had served me well in past years, and would only continue to do so.

The classes' schedules were rather simple, Combat Training for Mondays, History for Tuesdays, Grimm Studies on Wednesdays and Dust Principles on Thursdays. Fridays were a free day for team exercises, which I would not be enjoying as I lacked a team. Instead, I would be in the school's Forge's enjoying working metal and repairing armor for the students. Andre had shown be some of the basics of the craft and I rather enjoyed it, so I felt spending time learning it more thoroughly would be nice.

The fact it would help me contribute to Ruby's long winded talks about weapons was also a major boon to the idea.

I had also ordered a few dozen new books, thanks to Ozpin's credit lines. Mostly history books and books on art and culture, things which held interest to me if not a direct and conclusive practical use. Still, life wasn't only about practicality so I felt I could use something to pursue as a hobby.

I had also been told by Ozpin of Weiss and Blake's decision, and the potential consequences. And I would be sure to keep an eye on them during the coming weeks, to ensure their survival. This was at the request of Ozpin himself, a job from a friend that wanted to protect his students. He needn't have even asked, as I would have gladly volunteered for the job without the pay he was offering me for it.

But, for now, I was perfectly content to just follow the over-excited Ruby around the Academy, occasionally getting a hug or even a kiss on the cheek from the girl in spite of Yang's glares and casual threats to break my spine.

We spotted and talked to team JNPER at one point, and I took casual note of the slight return of Nora's brightness and how she clung to Ren's arm desperately, watching everyone move and talk with wide, frightened eyes. Jaune and Pyrrha were in a likewise position, though I knew it was likely Pyrrha's legs hurting her or Jaune's worry. Most likely both, in reality. Their newest team member, who stood between the two pairs casually, gave off an almost predatory feel even when she smiled and introduced herself as Elesis. I could tell by her stance and demeanor, the casual gaze that raked over me appraisingly and the calm smile she gave me telling me enough about her to gather that much.

In spite of myself, and the ease I felt just now, I couldn't help but feel anxious. Everything seemed bright, happy and hopeful. But as I had learned painfully in the past, such things rarely lasted long. And I sincerely feared losing what little I had gained. Ruby spotted my sudden unease, the tension no doubt visible to everyone, and snapped me out of it with a quick peck on the cheek.

I sighed lightly, and elected to ignore the unease I felt for now, instead merely following them around quietly.

(Neo, Forests near Mountain Glenn)

"Damn it, why isn't she answering our calls?" Emerald growled angrily, a few feet from her hiding spot in the tree above her. Mercury was reading a book, and only grunted simply in return. With a tired, almost mournful, sigh Neo dropped down behind Emerald with her sword poised for a quick, clean stab. Mercury noticed her, eyes widening slightly and his mouth opening to warn his partner.

He never spoke though, as Neo's illusion shattered at Emerald's quick, reflexive attack and Neo's blade cut cleanly through Mercury's throat with a splash of crimson. He dropped his book, grasping at his throat helplessly to try and staunch the steady flow of his life-blood through his fingers.

Mercury fired her weapons through where Neo had been standing, another illusion shattering as the bullets flew by uselessly. Neo dropped down once more, the larger woman spinning towards her just in time for her to plant her blade through her heart. With a gentle pull, she dislodged the blade and let Emerald fall, dying, to Mercury's side. He had already passed out, and would be dead in moments. Neo kicked Emerald's weapons away from her, and turned her back on the duo and ran off for fear any Grimm would come after hearing the gun-shots.

A hundred or so yards away, she sat in a tree and silently let tears flow. She hated killing, and hated more killing children.

**(Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Sorry for the wait.)**


	22. Pain or Gain : Part I : Devil Works

**(A/N: And so shall begin the Pain and Gain Arc. This chapter, which covers the Friday of the week which 'The Heart Wants' covered, is ALSO the first ever chapter told mostly without any presence from any of the Beacon characters. Instead, it is centered on extra characters and OCs I have made. I hope you like this. Enjooooy~)**

(Adam Taurus, White Fang Headquarters, Mountain Glenn)

Adam slammed his fist into the wall of his small, dirty room and looked at his old, worn Scroll wearily. He hadn't checked it in a while, had no reason to. He only carried it and maintained it in case certain people called him for a job, or an agent called to relay information. He'd just received a pair of messages after he turned it on. One was from Neo, confirming that Emerald and Mercury had been killed.

But the second was from Blake. A long message, telling her that they'd never again be partners but that, if he helped her, they could be friends again. He felt his eyes widen behind his mask, immediately dialing the number the message had been sent from. It was later, but surely she was expecting his call after such a message. And, indeed, she did answer," Hello? Adam?"

"What's the job?" He ground out, in a low and rough voice. "You'd never call me for anything unless it was a real issue."

"You're right, I wouldn't," She said bitterly, making Adam grimace tightly.

"Blake you should know I-"

I don't give a damn! Just. Listen." Adam hated the bitterness there, the anger but he wisely held his tongue, for fear he'd lose this thin chance to get his adopted little sister back. "And don't interrupt. I have a mate, and I marked her."

"That's great, but-"

"Her name is Weiss Schnee, and yes it's THAT Weiss Schnee." Adam felt his bile rise, but wisely held his tongue and sat on the edge of his bed, fist clenched. "You should know, I suffered an injury and she levied everything she had to get me the treatment I needed to recover. And now she's stepped down as the Schnee heiress, to be with me."

Adam took a moment, absorbing that information slowly. A Schnee was dating, and mated to, a Faunus. And had willingly stepped down from her wealth and power to do so. It was a sobering, surprising thought for the Bull Faunus to cope with.

"She says that her family will never allow her to go though, they'll try to kill her." He felt the terror, the tremble in her voice when she said that," Adam, I need you to come here. Help me protect my mate. Please."

"I'll be there tomorrow, with a few friends." He growled, throwing his long coat on easily, and striding from the room.

"Friends?" Blake asked quietly, and Adam could hear a door shut, and her voice adopted the same sound as when one was in a small tiled room. Adam assumed she had entered a bathroom or wash room. "I can't have White Fang people here, Adam! I MAY be able to get you in with Ozpin, but that is about all."

"Not White Fang soldiers, though the Fang is changing. My team." Adam stopped in front of Roman's door, nodding to the surprised man when he opened it.

"Your team?" She asked quietly, surprise entering her voice. "Do I want to know?"

"Roman, Neo and I are a team." He informed her casually, preparing himself for her angry reaction. He was surprised when she was calm and cool in her reaction.

"I figured they were, as I've seen both working with White fang grunts. Like the Breach for example, know how many people died in that?" Her tone took a bitter, angry edge at the last bit and Adam grimaced.

"Three hundred and forty one, not counting White Fang members." He shared quietly, lowering his head in shame," I know. We messed up, badly. That bitch Cinder tricked us all."

"Tricked you into attacking Vale?"

"Yes. She assured us your defenses would easily repel the attack with minimal losses and that the breach would be somewhere loosely populated and easily reinforced. We took care of her." He let that hang in the air for several minutes, watching Roman start strapping his boots on and getting ready to call Neo.

"I suppose that might help you get in, but those two will have to stay in Vale. Hidden." Blake said this curtly, and Adam felt little room to argue with her over it. Instead, he sighed and nodded.

"I understand, we'll fly in tomorrow. Take care until then, Blake." She grunted quietly, ending the call, and I looked at Roman who sighed, smiling slightly.

"I'll call Neo; tell her to go to the Bullhound instead of her room." Adam smiled, subtly nodding as a way of thanks before leaving to wait in the Bullhead for his team so they could depart. The trip would take overnight, but that was of little consequence to Adam.

All that mattered was Blake right now.

(Chief Security Officer Roger Buck, Mistralian Defense Force Outpost, Eastern Wall Section)

CSO Roger watched through the perimeter cameras as another batch of Hunters were crushed underfoot by the Goliath. They had been seen headed towards the city several days back, and he had immediately reported it. After every attempt to reach any of the Kingdoms by radio failed for some unknown reason, they had launched a Bullhead.

This had been speared out of the sky by a massive, black arrow. Every single attempt to launch another had failed in much the same way and now, watching the Mistralian defensive forces prepare and stock themselves for the coming attack, signified by the cracking wall and the massive, thundering strikes.

Roger couldn't understand all of this. Why weren't the other Kingdoms responding? Who or what was batting their Bullheads and fast movers out of the sky like gnats? And why the hell was the Grimm working like a coordinated and highly trained military organization? Even now, he could see armored Ursa protecting their lighter armored brethren from the light defense rounds his men deployed outside the walls were using. Well, what they WERE using before the Beowolves got close enough to rush to them and tear them apart in gouts of blood and the screams of dying men and women.

With a terrifying groan and crack, the great Mistralian wall broke and fell, crushing buildings and people alike underneath massive blocks. The Grimm instantly swarmed across the rubble, slaughtering any Huntsmen or soldiers still moving with ease and rushing into the city. Overhead, a Mistralian cruiser fell from the sky as a swarm of Nevermores and other Grimm tore into its hull and ruined its inner workings. CSO Roger, a veteran of the Grimm hordes himself, grabbed his own shield and spear, turning to go and join his brothers and sisters on the field of battle.

A massive, cracked great sword sprouted from his chest, a dull growl sounding behind him. CSO Roger looked over his shoulder, but the light left his eyes before he could get a look at the attacker's face and he went limp on the blade. The half dozen technicians and officers, some unarmed and helpless, fell just as quickly to the merciless attacker in his tattered black cloak. A dozen Creeps joined it in the room and, with a dull growl they dashed off into the base. Within moments, screams and death knells were heard throughout the building as the Grimm, bolstered further by newly arriving Grimm, began to tear through the city.

The monster spotted a single woman, crawling desperately for a weapon by her dead friend's side and the beast stomped over to her and glared through his helm at her, before throwing off his hood to reveal his armored helm with its once regal plume drooping behind him. Knight Artorias removed her head cleanly, smiling beneath his helm.

Soon, his master's will would be done. And that thought was all he needed to feel joy.

(Adamu Horu, Team Dorm)

Quietly, and careful not to be seen by his team, Adamu sent a brief message to his master. 'The Knights are here, your Knife is ready. Which throat should it cut?'

Within seconds a response came, and Adamu checked it readily and excitedly,' Neither. Hold the blade steady for now; I may need it to cut a different throat.' Adamu nodded, listening to Sky and Tom argue about food and flying, and just how much money really went into feeding the girl. Kris merely sat by Adamu's bed, waiting for the masked man to give him an order. Soon enough, Kris would get his order. And His master would reward him greatly with the two things he desired most.

Revenge and immortality.

(RWBY Dorm)

Blake sighed, crawling back into bed with her smaller mate. The young woman slid over, making room for her to lie down beside her and pulled her close to steal her warmth. Blake snuggled into her to warm her, smiling lightly. Whoever had though that Weiss would be such a snuggler? If anything in Blake's miserable life had ever made everything worth it, it was the cuddly young ex-heiress beside her.

And Blake would be damned if anything short of hell itself ever took Weiss from her, even if she had to make a deal with three devils to make certain of it.

**(Review Response: Dear coolshade45, I cannot respond directly to you as you are a Guest. So I respond here instead. Could Zan kill Yang? Yes, he could. Easily, in fact. He merely doesn't wish to do so and felt, rightly so, that simply letting it go was better than fighting.**

**Will Zan and Ruby 'do it' as you put it? Perhaps but I will not be making lemons or rather, I plan not to do so at this point. Sorry. Thanks for reading though!**

**Stayed up late for you guys, to show my LOVE!)**


	23. Pain or Gain : Part II : Unveiled Dark

**(A/N: So, I wanted to apologize for several things. For one, I'm sorry I've taken so blasted long on this chapter. For two, I'm sorry I'm slowing down on it. And for three… I'm sorry it will be winding down within a month. I genuinely love writing this, and you guys for reading it. Enjoy. By the way, I want input. To Lemon or not to Lemon? Should I or shouldn't I?)**

(Ozpin's Office, Third Person)

Ozpin scowled heavily, dropping his mug before collapsing to his knees as a familiar, heavy and dark, force seemed to smash into his senses. Glynda noticed it, and started to rush to his side even as he staggered back upright and towards the balcony, cane left on the floor.

"Ozpin?" Glynda asked worriedly, grabbing his arm and pulling his weight onto her own shoulders. The man was winded, wheezing slightly as if something had punched in his stomach and left him breathless.

"I'm fine, Glynda." He grunted, shoving off her harshly and staggering out into the morning sun. She looked hurt for a moment before he turned and gave her a level, heavy glance. "But I know something is nearby, and if it is who I think it is we are in a lot of trouble."

"Should I get Ironwood on the line?" Glynda asked worriedly, tone stiffening as she slipped into her professional role as Ozpin's assistant and pulled her Scroll out, ready for his orders.

"Yes, and tell him to get a signal to every Kingdom. If one doesn't answer, send scouts immediately. This bastard's presence no doubt spells some manner of disaster." He looked at her, squaring his shoulders before turning his back on her, hands clasped behind him as he gazed at the bright sun. "Call Zanmei too, have him get up here this afternoon with four of his most trusted friends."

"Why tell him that?" Glynda murmured half to herself as she typed out the pair of messages and sent them off to their respective recipients.

"Because I wouldn't ask him to reveal our secret to anyone else, Glynda." He looked at her once again, and it immediately clicked.

"You're going to tell them what you two are…." Ozpin nodded simply, watching the woman stare in stunned silence until her scroll beeped and made her look down. "The General says he'll be here shortly, when should I have him come by?"

"Have him and our guests meet in one of the conference rooms, I will speak to Zanmei and join them as soon as I may. Also, forward all relevant files to both parties. Hopefully, that'll mitigate any issues between Roman and James." Glynda nodded, typing even as he spoke before rushing from the room to coordinate everything. Standing alone on the balcony, hidden from the sight of everyone, he held his arms wide as if to embrace the sun itself," Beautiful sun, what sort of omen are you exactly"

(Zanmei Taiyang, First Person, Beacon cafeteria)

I smiled, leaning on the cafeteria's table and watching Ruby scarf her breakfast, consisting of several pancakes, and listening to the sounds around me. The influx of students, many having been admitted far cheaper than normal or outright paid to attend, the latter mainly consistent of mercenaries had returned the school to its loud and moderately crowded likeness as before the battle. Outside, I spotted the new gate, thick iron and brass forming a solid wall of steel and filling me with a sense of odd security after having watched the flimsy first one fall so easily.

I smiled behind my mask, turning to my friends. JNPER and RWBY had, for want of another term, adopted me into their group. Especially after Ruby and I had started dating, though Yang insisted we sit on opposite sides of the table much to her sister's disdain. Ren and Nora had, at last, it seemed gotten really together. They were sitting at the far end from me, the girl leaning against him and nibbling on her own breakfast while the boy talked to the other members of their team. Blake and Weiss were sitting together, holding hands beneath the table and eating happily in spite of Blake seeming increase in paranoia with every person who looked at them and noted their clasped hands.

I made a note to look into that at my earliest opportunity and turned back to Ruby, who was glaring lightly at my masked face, and signed a request to know why. "You're wearing your mask, and going hungry because everyone is here."

"I'll just take some back to my room, eat there before class." Ruby's scowl seemed to deepen slightly, and I sighed, grabbing a piece of her bacon and quickly turning around to toss it into my mouth.

"You are aware how stupid that is, right?" Yang cut in from beside her sister," You need food, and we're already your friends. Just ditch the damned mask already."

"Yes, I have to agree with the brute. For once," Weiss added, Blake simply nodding her agreement from beside her. The new girl, Elesis, seemed to actually take a mild interest in me and I saw JNPER all starting to lean in, either to further agree or simply to watch.

"You aren't going to let this go, are you?" I signed quickly, looking at the small girl across from me, hearing Blake translate for me quickly.

"Nope!" She said brightly, smiling widely and tilting her head to the side cutely. With a heavy, tired sigh I pulled my mask off and pocketed it, warily looking to my side. Mostly, I saw looks of quiet sympathy and satisfied curiosity. I could see the looks of disgust in the background and started to reach for my pocket again. "Don't you even think about it," I looked up at Ruby, smiling happily and sighed, giving in and starting to eat some eggs she slid across to me.

I was halfway through them when my Scroll beeped and I pulled it out, quickly flipping open the message from Glynda.

'Report to the Headmaster's office after first period. Forward the second message to anyone you trust implicitly. He says he has to tell a few people about what you two are, and felt you may need friends to be there for his news. ~ Glynda Goodwitch'

I felt my blood freeze and my blood roaring in my ears as adrenaline, fueled by pure fear and anxiety, shot through me. I ignored Ruby's worried words, jumping from the table and sprinting away and out of the room. I didn't stop until I reached my dorm, slamming the door hard enough to shake the dishes on the table before I grabbed my Sunlight Medal off the desk and sat by the window, squeezing it gently into my chest.

A few minutes later, I heard my door open and saw Ruby step in and shut the door with a dull click. I looked back out the window quietly, and she walked over and looked down at me sadly," I'm sorry I made you take off your mask. I didn't mean to upset you, Zan." I jerked to look at her in surprise, blinking at her slightly teary face.

I smiled thinly, signing up at her," It wasn't you or my scars, I promise." She sat next to me, leaning against my shoulder for a second and sighed," Where's Yang?" I asked quickly, noting the lack of the blonde brawler.

"I told her to let me go. Had a bit of a fight, but it'll be fine. I was worried I'd made you mad, so I kinda went off on her." I chuckled soundlessly, my shoulders shaking slightly and heard her laugh quietly. We sat quietly for a minute, Ruby snuggling up in the warm sun beside me under her cloak wrapped around her protectively and me still clutching my medal. After about ten minutes, the warning bell sounded and Ruby looked up at me," So, promise you aren't mad?"

"Promise," I signed, smiling up at her and the girl darted forward as usual for a quick peck on the cheek. But instead her lips pressed against mine, nervously and then she pulled away. "Well, uh, bye!" And she vanished in a flurry of petals, my door slamming behind her.

With a touch of hesitation, I forwarded the message to Ruby, telling her to bring her team to the meeting. Then I simply meditated quietly, trying to control the emotions in my mind that threatened to tear me apart before hopping to my feet and walking stiffly to Ozpin's office, not caring that I would be arriving early.

When I got there, Ozpin and Glynda were surprised to see me, and doubly so when I stomped up to him and began signing quickly, demanding an explanation. Ozpin and Glynda took several minutes to calm me, and make me sit in the Ozpin's padded chair before he started to talk, standing next to me.

"Zan, I am just going to assume that you didn't sense it earlier via your reaction, but I sensed a massive spike in Darkness nearby. And it wasn't a Grimm, someone was being actively corrupted or controlled, or perhaps channeling, the Dark." I stilled, a familiar chill shooting through me as I leaned back," We both know what this means, Zanmei." I nodded coolly, clenching my fists tightly," It means someone nearby has a Darksign, and is a being of the Dark."

"What exactly IS the Dark though?" Glynda asked quietly, and I jumped slightly at her voice. I had sincerely forgotten she was even in the room, my sole concern being instead the news I had heard.

"I don't fully understand it myself, really. I do know the Grimm are filled with it, almost radiating it, and that negative aspects of humanity make it up entirely but that is truly all I, or anyone not corrupted by the dark, knows." Ozpin's explanation was quick, and simple. Unfortunately, he was right in that we really knew nothing about that Dark which tore apart our world.

"Sir, uh, the General is here…. As are our guests." Glynda sighed, and Ozpin cursed loudly, before they both started to straighten their clothes. "We need to get to the conference room. Now."

Ozpin nodded, swearing angrily at their apparent early arrival, and I followed them quickly through the academy's halls. Soon, we stormed into a room anxiously, to see several people. Ozpin sighed, happy that at least no one had pulled a weapon yet, and stepped forward. "General, please calm down. They are here with my permission." I took a moment, looking around the room at the uneasy group. Three Atlesian soldiers were flanking the General, each glaring at a trio odd looking people. "This is Adam Taurus, current leader of the White Fang, his chief strategist Roman Torchwick and Roman's partner, Neopolitan. They are here with my permission, and will not see any harm if I can help it."

"These three are responsible for the Breach, Ozpin, and you expect me to simply stand here and do nothing?" The General barked angrily, glaring at the three guests heatedly.

"I expect the Atlesian military official, here as a guest and with authority I can easily rescind, to listen to me. And I'd expect my FRIEND to trust me for a few minutes." The man looked almost regretful, and meekly took his seat," Please, general, just listen to what they have to say."

"Thank you, headmaster, for your oh so generous-"the small girl elbowed the Ginger forcefully," Fine, sheesh. Anyway, the personal who actually planned the Breach wasn't any of us. Her name was Cinder Fall, and we killed her. She lied to us then, and when your academy was under attack. We thought that your forces could easily repel such attacks both times, and that there'd be next to no casualties."

"So we killed her." Adam grunted shortly, arms crossed defensively," And I plan on stepping down as leader, once I find an adequate replacement that will return the Fang to its old way."

"That's good to hear, I suppose, but there's still the matter of your past crimes to-"

Roman cut off the general, smiling coolly," We only want to help, now. With the attack on Beacon, weapons, Dust and other military equipment are in high demand across the kingdoms. We're offering our stocks of these things to Beacon, in exchange for being allowed to operate from here as long as we stay peaceful."

"Knowing that you may only stay as long as you refrain from violent actions, I will allow this." Ironwood instantly leapt to his feet, ready to protest, and Ozpin raised a hand," We NEED their supplies, James. We can't rely on skating by off your supplies and Vale donations. We still need to replace our drones and Dust stockpile."

"The Atlesian military would be perfectly happy to-"

"No, General. I will not accept handouts, especially when an actual deal is on the table for the same thing. We have both made grave mistakes in our years, and you cannot fathom how many I myself have made. "I looked at Ozpin, uneasily touching my throat in understanding of what exactly he was referencing. Clearly, he still blamed himself for the bastard's betrayal which had taken my voice.

"Very well, Ozpin. I can't say I approve of your choice, even slightly, but I will respect your decision." He stood up quickly, a slightly angry expression on his grimacing face," Is that all?"

"Yes, thank you. Glynda, if you would show our…. Guests to some private quarters, I would appreciate it." The woman nodded, hesitantly leading them out of the conference room with the General and his guards following shortly after. We stayed there quietly, me standing beside the door just behind Ozpin and he himself sitting at the table, shoulders drooping as he remembered the sins of our past.

When the bell signifying the end of class rang, Ozpin jerked up and startled me slightly at the sudden movement before sighing quietly and standing up rigidly. Worried, I signed to him to ask if he was okay and he simply nodded.

"Well, shall we get to my office? We have something big to share with your friends. Wouldn't want to keep Miss Rose waiting, now would we?" I gave him a surprised look, and he chuckled happily," This is my academy Zanmei; I know everything here and rarely miss anything of import."

I shrugged, following him quietly through the halls back to his office, ignoring the spikes of anxiety that shot through me with increasing force as we neared the office. Once we entered, I saw RWBY sitting outside the room and the little Rose hopped up, jogging to me with a wave. I smiled, waving back in spite of myself and we filed into the office. Ozpin stood beside his own seat, motioning instead for me to take it.

And I did, surprising the four in front of me as I sat and reclined relaxedly," I figured you might need to sit for hits particular conversation, brother. Now, where should I begin?" I shrugged noncommittally and he smiled," The beginning then?" I nodded, and the headmaster took a breath and looked at my friends.

"As Huntresses you are under my command, and you will not interrupt the story you are about to hear. And you will also accept that these things we tell you are true, and will NOT be shared outside of this room." He stepped closer to them, leaning heavily on his desk," I don't care how Zan feels about any of you; if you put him at risk I _will _kill you myself. Do you understand?" After a chorus of agreements, Ozpin started to tell our tale. A long one indeed and one which I feared would ruin my new friendships. A story filled with blood, monsters and demons of every kind.

And that was only the setting, and I could already tell they were having trouble believing us and gently touched Ozpin's arm, signing at him gently," They don't believe us."

"I must say, I cannot blame them. And we haven't even gotten to the good parts yet, where we come in." He sighed, looking at them," How about I skip the intricate bits of the story and just make the point?"

"That might be best," Weiss mumbled, the other three nodding with looks of confusion etched onto their faces.

"Very well, then allow me to truly introduce myself. I am Knight Solaire of Astora, Paladin of the Sunlight Covenant and Guardian of the Way. This is Zanmei Taiyang, Honorary Knight of the Sunlight Covenant and Guardian of the Way, as well as my adopted brother." He paused, taking another breath," We met a long, long time ago in a land which no longer exists called Lordran. Miss Schnee, would you share with us the tale of the Twin Knights of the Flame?"

"Uh, sure." She cleared her throat, sitting up straighter," There were once two knights, one black as the darkness itself and one white as pure snow who fought at the beginning of Time itself, before even the Grimm had taken root, to depose a corrupted god and bring back the Age of Light and save mankind. In the end, they won and sacrificed their everything to save our world."

"Good. And you're looking at both of us. I am a Warrior of Light, and wear white armor, while Zan wears Black armor. Black and white, just like the story. Though, it doesn't talk about the Dark, which spawned the Creatures of Grimm which we fight to this day." Ozpin smiled warmly, even as the four girls surprise increased and I lowered my head, watching Ruby look at me from the corner of my eyes. Ozpin spotted my worry and quickly stepped in," You four are here because I sensed someone corrupted by the Dark, and told my brother here to gather those he trusted truly implicitly. He selected you four."

"So, you mean he trusts US with something like this?" Ozpin simply nodded at Yang's question, smiling slightly. "Well that's certainly a thing."

"Indeed. But the reason I am allowing you all to know this is that whoever at this Academy that is corrupted by the Dark either is an Undead like us, meaning none of you can kill them, or is under one's command. Either way, you four are under orders that, if there is an attack, you will get everyone you can as far away as possible from us while we fight them." He opened his mouth to speak further, but was stopped when the door to his office flew open and Glynda rushed in, followed by General Ironwood and Roman, who of course had Neo on his flank.

"Ozpin, our first scout has reached Mistral. Before he got shot down by something, he said the city was burning." The Atlesian General levied a sober look at everyone, especially Yang who was glaring heatedly at Neo who simply smiled haughtily at her. The next words broke even their attitude, however," Mistral has fallen to the Grimm."


	24. Pain Or Gain III : Sins of the Past

(Zanmei Taiyang, Ozpin's Office, First person)

"N-no way. Mistral can't be gone; they have the second best military on Remnant!" I sighed, leaning back in the chair and listening to the girls slowly devolving into spluttering, frightened messes. Weiss was correct; Mistral was a mighty beast of a Kingdom only really comparable to Atlas in strength. Vale tended to rely more on Huntsmen and Vacuo relied mainly on mercenaries and privateers, as well as Huntsmen from other kingdoms.

"Wait… Why didn't they call for help?" Blake muttered, and the General nodded approvingly at her.

"We wondered the same. But once our scouts got within a mile of the main city, they dropped out of contact." The general sighed, shaking his head tiredly," They turned back when Nevermores started to swarm them and came back into contact."

"Zan," I looked over at Ozpin, who gave me a meaningful look, before speaking fearfully," Someone disabled their communications, and the Grimm attacked in a concerted, coordinated effort. Nothing else could have caused Mistral to fall, except for a professional military leading a strike." He paused for several seconds before giving the general a heavy look," Everyone except Zan and James, get out. We need to talk."

"But what about-"

"I will send you a file, Miss Rose, with everything on it. I have had it prepared for several days, in case Zan here wanted to tell you about us." He smiled at the girl lightly, and I copied the gesture," Now, if you would please take our guests to their room, it's just down the hall from yours."

"You are giving them a DORM ROOM here?" Yang snapped angrily, eyes glinting red and glaring at the smallest girl in the room, who shrank behind the cane carrier beside her meekly at Yang's outburst, and I could swear her eyes swapped colors to be pink.

"Miss Xiao Long-"

"Look, kid, just say what you want." The man grumbled, stepping in front of the small girl with the odd hair protectively," Kid's been through a lot, and you ain't talkin' to the Neo you fought on the train." Yang stopped for a moment, glaring at the man and motioning for him to continue. "I… Look, she can tell you in private more about it, but suffice to say she has multiple personalities and that was a bad day, okay? She…. WE are sorry for what happened, and here to try and make it right."

"I wanna punch her." Yang growled, glaring at her angrily," She knocked me out, and pissed me off. Lemme hit her, knock her out, and we'll be good."

"You think I'm gonna let you hurt her?!" The man snapped angrily, stepping forward protectively in front of the girl.

"Hey, you want me to let it all go? I wanna punch you too, Roman." Ozpin growled lowly, opening his mouth to end the dispute.

The girl stepped between them meekly, shoulders shrunken in and slouching down before she looked up at Roman and simply shook her head. "You can't be serious, Neo! You're Pink right now, she could seriously hurt you!"

"What do you mean 'pink'?" Ironwood asked simply, trying to divert the confrontation away from the current violent course.

"Uh, well, she has split personalities. Ties in with her semblance, Red Eyes there mighta' seen it. Her eyes swap colors, when they're pink like they are now she's meeker than normal. When they're brown she gets all flirty and pushy about stuff, watch your wallets when that happens by the way, and when they go white she gets all psycho." Roman never once took his head of a swivel, watching Neo and Yang closely in each respect," When she goes White, then she just wants to murder people. She has no control."

"Fine then, one punch. Straight to the jaw for her and we're cool." Yang offered breezily, cracking her knuckles threateningly. Roman growled lightly, looking at Ozpin for help. The man offered none, and he turned to Neo who simply sighed soundlessly and nodded. Roman cussed, storming out into the hall and past Adam before slamming the door shut behind him.

"I shall send you with him, Mister Taurus, with the location of your room if you do not mind? I understand you and Miss Belladonna have some… history." Adam nodded quietly, taking the offered keycard and map off the table after Ozpin slid it across to him and following Roman from the room stiffly.

"Thank you, Professor..." Blake muttered tensely, and for the first time I noticed how tense and anxious she was though I could not tell whether it was from the news about Mistral or Adam's presence.

"I have to ask you to trust me, he is here at my allowance and I believe he deserves another chance. He killed Cinder, the cause of recent events, so I am allowing him to stay. If he slips up, however, the General takes him into custody." Blake nodded simply, and Ozpin turned to Yang with a grimace," Now, Miss Xiao Long, I have to ask if this is truly necessary for you to cooperate with her?"

"Yup. I'll take her to the nurse's office right after too, Professor." She rolled her fist back, looking down at the shorter girl," Whenever you're ready, half pint." Neo took a breath, closing her eyes and nodding jerkily. Yang didn't hesitate, putting a hand on her shoulder to hold her still and punching her viciously across the mouth, busting her lip and nearly tossing her away. Neo, knocked out by the punch, wilted easily and Yang caught her before tossing her over her shoulder," Later guys, gonna take tiny here to the doc."

Once they were gone, I sighed lightly and looked at Ruby who just smiled and shrugged," Yang's just like that, get used to it." I nodded and looked at Ozpin, who smiled down at me.

"Now then, for the next order of business, Miss Rose?" Ruby 'hmm'ed' lightly in acknowledgement and Ozpin reached into his pocket, producing his Scroll, and smiled," I am sending you all relevant information about Zan and me, for your team only. Go over it in your dorm, as a mission. Understood?"

"Gotcha!" Ruby quipped, smiling lightly and turning to leave.

"Also, it has come to my attention that Miss Schnee is in danger of assassination? As such, I am assigning Zanmei as your team's personal bodyguard. He is charged, by me and my rights under the Sun, to defend you to the utmost of his ability." I nodded approvingly, signing a thank you and standing up easily. "Miss Schnee, you are to move your things to his room or he is to move into your team's from now on."

"Yes, Professor." Weiss acquiesced easily, nodding and grimacing lightly," Can, uh, Blake come with me?" I rolled my eyes, nodding acceptingly and watched her face light up with a huge smile.

"Very well, general? Do you need anyone here for anything or can they go?" Ironwood simply shook his head, turning to walk from the room.

"No, I have to depart. Atlas and vale are preparing for…. Whatever comes next, I suppose, so I am being recalled. Good luck, my friend, with whatever comes for your head next." Ozpin nodded and, with a parting wave from the headmaster, we all dispersed. I followed closely behind Weiss herself, walking down the halls warily.

She noticed me, looking back over her shoulder, and sighed," So, on a scale of one to ten, how annoying of a guard are you going to be?" I laughed quietly, holding up both hands with open palms and she sighed," Great."

"He's just trying to keep you safe, Weiss." Ruby quipped, bouncing up beside me brightly," It's a job now, but he'd have done it anyway. Right big guy?"

I smiled, signing leisurely," Of course. Any friends of yours are under my protection, so I'd gladly have fought for her if asked or needed."

"Fair enough. So, any rules for your room I need to know about?" I shook my head at Weiss' question and we filed into the final hallway, where I stood while Weiss and Blake moved their things into my room, apparently having decided that was preferable.

Adam, Roman and Neo stayed in their own room quietly, presumably talking, resting or just avoiding people. As Yang and Nora, JNPER having been roped into the job by Ruby at some point, hauled the couple's bed, the only bed they had elected to move in I noted idly, Adam stepped out of the door into the hallway.

Elesis, who had been quite happily chatting quietly with Pyrrha, immediately spotted him and stepped past me quietly, and looked at the equally surprised looking, from what I could tell behind the mask, young man. "Adam?" Elesis was quiet, almost whispering and I could feel the tension radiate off of her in rolling, roiling waves.

"Hello, Elesis. It's….. Good to see you well." The man had self-control, that was apparent at least. His hands were balled into fists and his arms shook ever so slightly," How are you?"

"How am I? How am I?!" I stepped back, surprised at her sudden shouting as she stepped forward and the larger, and more imposing physically, man stepped back in surprise. "I can't believe you would even fucking ASK me that right now, Adam!"

"Elesis, what's…?" I put an arm out, stopping Nora from stepping in and waved them back into their room. JNPER left quietly, as did everyone but Ruby and I.

"Elesis, please calm down and-"

"Don't you ever tell me to calm down, Adam! It's been almost seven years, you don't get to tell me to calm down!" I sighed, and grabbed Ruby's arm, gently pulling her into my room where Weiss and Blake were arranging their bed.

(Transition to Third Person, in the hallway)

"Elesis, I had to go. I was in the Fang, and things were getting dangerous even by my standards for danger." Adam sighed, leaning against the wall tiredly, "I only found out you were here a moment ago, that's why I came out here."

"So you left to, what? Protect me?" She snapped, hair bristling angrily as she stepped forward again and Adam flinched back.

"Yes. I didn't want you to-"

"Damn it Adam, you really are bullheaded aren't you?" Elesis sighed exasperatedly, shaking her head," I knew exactly what I was getting into from the get go. Why should you get to choose my path for me like that?"

"Elesis you didn't know what I was going to be getting into, I didn't want you to get wrapped up in all the violence. You'd seen enough blood and death already." He gestured meekly at her head, where her ears would have rested.

"I got 'wrapped up in it' the minute I got into your bed, Adam. You and I both know we didn't just screw each other-"

"And that's why I left! My mate needs to be safe, no matter what." He growled angrily, slamming his fist against the wall brutishly.

"I get that, Adam. But now you're here, so what?" He paused confusedly, looking down slightly in confusion.

"I don't…."

"Tomorrow, we're going to a movie. You are buying." She turned and walked stiffly to the door to her dorm before looking over her shoulder," And if you ever pull that shit again? I'll cut your pecker off." Then she slammed the door loudly, and Adam sighed.

"Dad always said to avoid foxes….."


	25. Pain or Gain : Part IV : From Shadows

**(A/N: So, time for some fluff. Just a bit. With speckled plot and character exposition. Hope all y'all like it. **

**Stay Twisted)**

(JNPER, Central Vale City, Third Person)

"So, you guys hungry?" Pyrrha grunted happily at Jaune's quiet question, nodding simply and Ren, leaning slightly to the side so Nora could hold onto his arm tightly, merely looked at the nervous girl questioningly.

"P-pancakes might be nice, I guess." She muttered quietly, smiling thinly before looking over her shoulder. Adam was following a bit behind them, frowning heavily as if simply being out was a personal slight against him. Elesis on the other hand, had her arm around his shoulder, dragging him along with a bright smile, completely oblivious to the man's seeming discomfort, or merely unconcerned about it.

He looked ahead at them, face obscured behind the omnipresent mask, and ground out the first words she'd heard him say all afternoon," It's five o'clock. Too late for breakfast foods, it's time for dinner."

"If Nora wants pancakes, and you want dinner, I know a buffet we could go to," Elesis offered simply, reaching up and bopping the black clothed man on his forehead," And be nice, she's having a rough time."

"If you say so," He grumbled quietly, glaring around at the surrounding buildings and people. Word had already spread of Mistral's destruction, and many people were in mourning over lost friends and family. Others were in denial, laughing loudly and running around as though they were the happiest people in the world. It pissed Adam off, royally, to see such callous disregard for so many lost lives.

"You mean the one we went to a couple days ago? That was a great place!" Pyrrha had long since resigned herself to the fact that her family was essentially dead to her, and that had let her grieve their loss earlier than others normally would have. As a result, while others wept or walked around like they'd lost everything dear to them (which some had, to be fair), she could soldier on.

"Yeah, that one. What was it called again?" Jaune, luckily, had no family in Mistral to speak off beyond a few distant cousins, so far off that he only knew them from years ago at a family reunion, or after being told they even existed.

"Ashes to Ashes, Jaune." Ren offered easily, smiling thinly," Perhaps if you would simply stop ogling your girlfriend so much, you could notice signs."

"Says the man who hasn't slept in his own bed for three days?" Elesis tossed in easily, smiling when Ren started to sputter nervously and Nora blushed lightly. "And don't even try and say nothing has ever happened. That's total bullshit and we would all know it." Jaune laughed quietly, smiling at his team and Elesis grinned evilly," And we all know what really happens whenever you 'help' Pyrrha take a shower."

"H-hey I am actually helping her!" Jaune blushed madly, and Pyrrha simply couldn't pass up the chance.

"Jaune, are you _ashamed _of me now?" she mock whined, sniffling sadly," I thought I was important to you."

"Y-you are, but….. I just… That was supposed to be a private thing!" Everyone cracked up at Jaune's practically having an anxiety attack, laughing quietly. Even Adam, in spite of himself, grinned ever so slightly.

"Relax, Jaune, I'm just teasing you." Pyrrha smiled coyly at him, leaning against him," After all, I do need to thank you. I mean, without you holding me up against the wall, I wouldn't be able to stand long enough for a shower."

This, of course, turned Jaune bright red and left him a sputtering mess for a few minutes, by which time they'd found the restaurant and found seats. Adam had to admit, eating dinner with Elesis and her team was at least more amusing than sitting in his room and idly waiting for something to happen. Even if Elesis was slightly clingy after him being gone so long, and Nora was afraid of everyone she saw (even refusing to sit anywhere but with her back to a wall in the corner) or Jaune and Pyrrha were overly lovey dovey, he was still amused at least.

Plus, he was with Elesis. And that fact made both of the scarred Faunus happier than either cared to admit.

(Neo, Beacon Hospital Area, Third person)

With a leisurely stretch, Neo finally woke up. Thankfully, she had a strong enough Aura to protect her from most of the blonde brawler's punch, but taking it at all left her happy that she'd avoided the hits in that fight. Her jaw was still aching, even with the healing she'd managed so far.

"Finally up are ya'?" Neo blinked, looking to her side to see the blonde from yesterday sitting in a chair across the room, smiling cockily. "Thought I mighta knocked a few rocks loose, and I never actually got to introduce myself, so I figured I'd wait up."

Neo blinked, feeling her semblance naturally kick in making her eyes flash to Brown and Pink, a rather balanced set. She smiled, nodding lightly at her and sitting there calmly, staring at the blonde who sighed lightly, pulling a notebook from under her chair and tossing it onto the small girl's lap. Neo nodded thankfully, scribbling out her first message," When can I leave do you think?"

"Dunno, probably in a couple hours. I kinda have a reputation around here, so they may want you to stay for a bit to get checked over tonight. Maybe tomorrow?" Yang shrugged simply, reaching into a small bag at her feet and pulling out a pair of water bottles, one of which Neo took.

"Were you here all night?" Yang nodded, smiling lightly and Neo tilted her head to the side, a clear question written on her features.

"Weiss and Blake were getting all cuddly and snuggly, so I figured I'd let them have the room." Neo blinked a couple times, wanting more information for her naturally curious mind," Look, they kicked me out so they could fuck, okay?"

"Yeah, Roman used to do the same thing a lot. Then White came out and threatened to castrate him, so he started getting a motel." Yang couldn't help but laugh a bit, smiling lightly.

"You ain't bad, for an annoying half pint." Yang admitted coolly, smiling wider," How's your jaw feelin'?" Neo held up a hand, giving her a 'half and half' gesture and shrugging lightly. "Yeah, I guess I overdid it a bit. So, what's your name?"

"Neapolitan." She wrote simply, smile still plastered on her face and taking a sip of water from the bottle.

"Like the ice cream?" A nod," So, I guess you could say I owed you a LICK then?" And then, Neo nearly died laughing. The two continued to chat idly for a few hours, until a nurse swung by and told Yang she would have to leave now that Neo was up. "See ya later, half pint. Maybe I'll swing by tomorrow?" Neo nodded happily, smiling widely at her. Neo didn't have many friends, and she hoped that she'd managed to gain one today.

(Cardin and Coco, Former CFVY dorm, Third Person)

"So, what do you wanna do today?" Cardin called loudly over the sound of Coco's hairdryer, grumbling ever so slightly to himself about her primping again. "And where are the girls at?"

"They're at my apartment, hon, probably banging like bunnies, too, based on how they've been acting over the last couple days." Coco chuckled lightly, smiling in the mirror," Say what you want, those two can GO."

"Yeah, the bunny certainly lives up to her heritage," Coco grabbed a towel, throwing it out the door at the reading knight who, surprised, dropped his book and fell off his bed with a loud curse," Hey! I was kidding, Coco-puff!"

"Call me that again, Cardin, and you will NOT be getting anywhere near this," she smiled, gesturing with a wave at herself after stepping around the doorway," for a month. Minimum."

"That's just cruel, Coco. Not even joking." She smiled, plopping down onto her bed and stretching languidly on the soft bed.

"Too bad, it's what you signed up for when you asked me to dinner." Cardin sighed good naturedly, lying back down on his own bed.

"Yeah, yeah. Least I can drink a damn coffee that doesn't take me half an hour to say the full name for." Coco glared at him, before rolling over and closing her eyes to take a nap. "Hey, I thought you wanted to do something?"

"I am. It's called sleeping." Cardin sighed, reopening his book on Faunus history and leaned back to start reading again. Velvet had picked it up for him when he asked her about her history, and he had decided to read it through. No way would he fail his new team-mates by not reading a simple book.

(Zan, Weiss, Ruby and Blake, RWBY Dorm, First Person)

I chuckled at Ruby, shrugging my shoulders leisurely in my heavy armor. It never seemed to cease to annoy her that I insisted on wearing my entire set all the time now, and she was currently pouting that I had once more adorned my mask with my helmet.

"Sorry, but I take my duty very seriously. Mask stays on, Ruby." Weiss and Blake, playing chess in the far corner, had elected to simply ignore us after the first few hours of me following them around with my massive shield and sword, boots clanking heavily with every step to every class.

"Ugh! You're so stubborn, Zan." Ruby flopped across her bunk, legs swinging off the side loosely. I smiled, turning to check on my charges for a moment before looking back up at the pouting girl.

"Sorry, Ruby, but I have a job to do. The mask protects against poison and gases, so I may need it to prevent an attacker using them against me." I leaned against the wall, propping my great-sword against my shield beside me and relaxing ever so slightly," But I'll relax a bit, if you'll stop giving me those pouty eyes."

"Yay~!" She cheered loudly, as Weiss swore angrily.

"How do you keep winning, damn it?" Blake simply smiled, resetting the chess board and leaning back to stretch. "I had your queen and most of your pieces, but you still won."

"Not my fault, you always leave yourself open to Checkmate." Weiss groaned loudly, making her first move again and I smiled. Then I grabbed my sword, sensing Dark nearby, just as the door smashed inward and Ozpin, unconscious and wounded, slammed into the wall in a heap.

"Hello there, old friend. It's very…. Good to see you." I swallowed forcefully, anxiety increasing exponentially at the sinister, cruel voice and more so at the familiarity it held. Standing there in the doorway, wicked, curved shotel in his off hand and a plain, unornamented straight-sword in the other with a tattered black cloak draped across his shoulders in his dulled brass armor was the single worst person I could have ever hoped to see. "Won't you introduce me to your… friends?"

Lautrec was alive, and he was here for something.


	26. Pain or Gain : Part V : A Choice is Made

**(Time for blood, and plot, in equal and possibly copious amounts. Stay Twisted!)**

(Third person, RWBY dorm)

Ruby hopped down from the bed, grabbing Crescent Rose and rolling to the side nimbly while Weiss and Blake retreated to the far corner, their weapons out of reach. This meant only Zanmei and Ruby were armed, the latter unarmored in her uniform and only having one magazine available. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

The armored man laughed, ignoring Zanmei as he anxiously shifted in between the girl and the golden man, something Lautrec noted with a hidden smirk," Well, my little tart, he and I are… Hmm, shall we say old friends? Yes, I believe that fits adequately. He and I had a bit of a falling out a long time ago, and I figured since I was in the neighborhood for a job I was given," he shrugged leisurely, blades gripped loosely in his hands and tilted his head at Weiss and Blake, the latter shielding the former protectively. "Ah, look. My business."

"Weiss," Blake growled lowly," You're here to kill her."

"Yes, well, she must have known someone would come for her eventually, right? She must have told you," he laughed when Zan growled lowly in the back of his throat and stepped back," Now, now, why fight? You cannot win."

"You want to hurt Blake and Weiss, so we have to fight. Why not just leave? You don't have to do this." Ruby distinctly heard Zan's sword scraping from its sheath as he charged, unable to reach his shield and great-sword.

Overwhelmed by anger and fear, having just seen his brother tossed into the room and not knowing whether he lived or died and fearing letting Lautrec get near his friends, Zan lunged forward with all his power. Lautrec slid to the side, letting the blade skate across his raised forearm as he struck the pommel of the straight-sword across the other Undead's back and propelling him past him and into the hallway where he slammed into the wall and turned back to the other knight.

"Now, now old friend!" Lautrec laughed loudly, throwing his arms open widely and smiling behind his helmet. "We only just met back up, after all. Tell me, Zanmei, how have you been? Good I hope." Zan growled and, behind Lautrec, Ruby lined up a shot at Lautrec's open back while Blake and Weiss armed themselves. "I hear many things through the grape vines, old friend. For instance, I hear that-"Ruby fired a single shot, pinging off the armored back even as Weiss and Blake launched at him with a flurry of blows.

Lautrec smiled, blocking each attack with ease for a few seconds before lashing out with a vicious kick across the back of Blake's head and grabbing Weiss, the Faunus girl lying on the ground unable to help in her dazed state. When Weiss stabbed forward with Myrtenaster, the sharp blade merely pinged off his armored chest and, laughing loudly, he turned at slammed her into Zan's chest as he stepped forward, staggering the heavily armored warrior and breaking the girl's left arm. Smiling viciously behind his helmet, Lautrec casually tossed a dagger from his belt at the wounded girl, sending it deep into the girl's leg, staining the white boots with gout of crimson as she cried and fell.

Blake shot up in an instant and, this time with Ruby backing her up, launched into a vicious flurry of slashes, shots, and strikes that even Lautrec had a modicum of difficulty defending against. Lautrec stepped in, hooking his shotel around her leg and yanking it up. Leg suspended in the air and off-balanced, Blake saw Lautrec coming in for a finishing stab to her abdomen and used the force of a clone's dispersion to toss her to the side, where she rolled and clutched at the bleeding wound on her calf lightly.

Wordlessly, Zan gently sat the bleeding girl and slashed at him three times, each dodged easily before Lautrec leapt up and kicked him in the face, dazing him and staggering him back a few steps. This left Ruby alone for a moment, and she tried to backpedal a moment too late to escape the iron grip that grabbed her throat and yanked her off her feet. She swung her scythe one-handed in an attempt to cleave his arm away. Lautrec's shotel hooked into her wrist with a wet sound and she screamed for a moment, dropping the scythe limply.

"As I was saying," he muttered calmly, watching Zan stand and levering the shotel slightly in warning," I am here on business, but I did want to have a reunion of sorts with you. I heard an odd rumor, that you of all people had a sweetheart." Zan visibly flinched, and Lautrec couldn't help the bark of laughter that escaped his mouth," And it seems that is true. So tell me, which of these lovely young things is the girl? It can't be the Schnee; you would have reacted when I bled her as I did. Perhaps…." He twisted the shotel painfully, eliciting a pined cry from Ruby as a trickle of blood ran onto the floor and Zan growled, stepping forward angrily. "I see so tell me, did you swear to protect the Schnee?"

Zan nodded warily, and Lautrec laughed loudly again, smiling broadly behind his helmet until Zan signed warily," What is so funny?"

"Translate, girl." He demanded, twisting the blade slightly and making her whimper as Blake staggered to her feet warily, Cardin and Coco standing behind her with their weapons after they'd heard the fighting.

"H-he asked what's funny," she muttered painfully, and Lautrec inclined his head politely, laughing slightly.

"I simply decided what's happening here, that's all. My job is to end the girl, and you don't want me to kill this one," another twist, and another scream as Weiss sat up against the wall, pressing down on the wound in her leg. "So I'll make you choose, who dies. Either you kill the Schnee for me, or I kill the girl and then I kill the Schnee anyway."

Zan froze for a moment, looking at Ozpin's unmoving form and then looking at Ruby and Blake desperately, incapable for deciding the route to take. Forsake his honor and oath, or sacrifice Ruby. "What, don't think I'm serious? Fine then." Lautrec yanked the shotel from her wrist, spinning it and slashing across her left eye and sending blood arcing into the air as the blade sank into and through the center of the eye as Ruby screamed in pain and kicked her feet helplessly against Lautrec's chest, her hands covering her face after he turned back to Zan's wide, angry eyes and laughed lowly," So choose, the Schnee or the girl."

Zan looked at Ruby, who was simply sobbing into her hands and hanging limply in Lautrec's grip, then at Blake who stared at him with wide eyes, silently begging him from where she leaned against the wall for a solution. Then he looked at Coco, who simply met his eyes levelly as Cardin gripped his mace tighter and nodded. Lautrec seemed to sense this, snapping his finger as a half dozen small blades attached to thin wires shot around Coco, grabbing her and throwing her back down the hall.

At the end of it, two men stood with one holding a metal pole from which the wires were shooting. Coco sailed past Adamu and Kris, slamming into the wall with a dull thud as the Naginata reformed its blade and the two stepped up threateningly.

"If you thought you had some back up, think again," Lautrec could feel the sense of despair come off of Zan as he realized what was happening, and what had to happen. Zan looked over his shoulder, face hidden behind his mask and helmet, down at Weiss who stared up with wide, fearful eyes.

"Zan, please…" Weiss started and Blake took several steps forward before Cardin grabbed her, holding her back as her instincts drove her to intervene. "Please don't…" Breathing heavily, Zan looked at his straight-sword with dull eyes before looking at Ruby's sobbing form again, wishing beyond a prayer she could tell him what to do before looking back down at Weiss, his blade held in front of him as her eyes widened and she tried to pull herself away in fear.

Zan sighed heavily, kneeling down and grabbing her neck gently and pulling her around to see him sign at her," I am sorry, sister." Weiss opened her mouth to speak, and Zan slid his sword into her breast with a muted, wet squelch as she gasped quietly and her once pristine shirt a dull red. He'd aimed straight for the heart, to try and mitigate the pain in hers as his own shattered upon hearing Blake's feral, pain filled cry of anguish and Lautrec's satisfied, insane laughter.

As Weiss' eyes dimmed, Zan sat numbly and watched Lautrec drop Ruby by his side as he walked by," Good man, you take care now. And get that eye looked at, don't want her to get an infection."

Zan reached over, stroking Ruby's head lightly as the trio departed and the girl finally passed out, a dozen nurses and security officers rushing from the opposite end of the hall from where the villains had gone. As they tended to the wounded, and tried desperately to revive Weiss, a single gunshot was heard and Cardin watched as Blake tumbled limply to the ground, Gambol Shroud clattering across the ground quietly, with a small, neat hole through the top of her head. Zan merely sighed, stifling the tears, and walked into his dorm to meditate.

As he collapsed to the ground in his darkened room, having yanked the curtains closed as he was not worthy of the warm sun, he allowed the tears to finally fall. Another sin to add to his list of atrocities. Another scar on the world, thanks to the bastard known as Lautrec.

**(A/N: That was really hard to write actually... Damn. Well, tell me how you like it guys? I need a bit.)**


	27. Pain or Gain : Part VI : Darkness

**(A/N: So, last chapter escalated damned fast, huh? Just boom, people are dead and Lau-motherfucking-trec is here. So two people are confirmed now, Lautrec and Artorias of the Abyss. BOTH are alive, telling you Zan never killed them. Make of that what you will, but know that Lautrec DOES outclass Zanmei and Solaire, as does Artorias. So, this chapter, you will get a bit of an info dump on both the past, and Blake's reaction to Weiss' death.**

**Stay Twisted~)**

(Zanmei's Room, First Person)

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," I turned my head to the corner, the shadows seeming to build and bulge into a large figure for a moment before the serpent rose, winding around me loosely, " What has happened, little Undead? Sitting alone for hours?"

I ignored him, looking back over at the wall even as I heard my door open and saw Ozpin step around me and kneel, concern etched into his face as he spoke words I could not hear. I continued staring ahead at the wall where the dark serpent slithered, hissing delightfully. Is this madness or Hollowing?

"Ah, I am but a figment of your mind? Is that what you think?" The serpent hissed in amusement again, smoke billowing from its body as Ozpin, seemingly giving up, stormed from the room. "Perhaps I am, or maybe I am just what I appear to be. You and I never spoke personally, but you may call me the Dark Seeker."

I continued to glare at him silently, wishing he would just go away and leave me alone until I turned my gaze and looked at the floor below him.

"You shouldn't blame yourself, you know." I looked back at the serpent, eyes narrowing warily. Was this thing consoling me? "Yes, I am consoling you. The Dark is not evil, nor are those who follow it, as a rule. Nor is the Light. Each is only a source of power, and the Light is so much weaker than the Dark that its followers had to lie and deceive to defeat it."

I growled angrily, leaping to my feet and striding to the door, intent on opening it and going to Ozpin, but the door would not budge even an inch, and I glared at it confusedly," As I said," I looked back at the serpent warily," the Dark is far more powerful than the light. I could kill you even now, if I so desired. But I won't, because truthfully I wish to help you."

My eyes widened and I started to sign rapidly at the hissing creature," Help me how?"

"I can grant you the power to kill Lautrec all by yourself. Think of it as a…. gift, in return for considering my words carefully." I walked back into the room and sat in my chair, staring at the serpent warily. The Dark wasn't trustworthy, nor were its followers, I knew that but I had to kill Lautrec, and if he could give me the power.

"What do you have to say?" I signed and watched the serpent smiled viciously and hissed, slithering down from its pseudo seat on the desk to the floor where it curled comfortably.

"No. I'll talk later, for now simply accept my power as a favor so you can kill your nemesis." I blinked, sitting up, before I nodded easily. If he didn't want to speak, I could just take his power and get revenge on Lautrec. "Just let me in, don't resist the Dark's touch Zan….."

My mind seemed to freeze for a second, and I jerked upright. Still seated where I had fallen after Lautrec left, though the sun had set outside. Had I really been sitting there for so long? I raised my hand, looking at the gauntlet. Where once it had been stained with blood, now it was dry and dark, darker than I had ever seen it. And I could feel the power of the Dark radiating off of it, small lines of smoke circling it.

I stormed out of my room, walking past a pair of security mechs that were by it, and grabbed my straight-sword before striding into RWBY's dorm, retrieving my great-sword and shield. The two mechs stopped me in the hall after I left, instructing me to halt for questioning. I ignored the orders, smashing one beneath my shield and cleaving the other in two before continuing down the hall and out of the building.

Lautrec had a head start, perhaps, but I could sense him through the Dark. And his head WOULD roll.

(Ozpin, Beacon Medical Area, Third Person)

"Where the hell is that son of a bitch?" Ozpin sighed, glaring lightly at Yang's screaming, infuriated form in Ruby's room. Said girl had woken up a few hours prior, but hadn't spoken since then, staring down at her lap quietly with a small, black patch over her eye.

"Miss Xiao Long, you have ranted for an hour! We do not know where he went, only that he destroyed the mechs that were watching your room and left." Ozpin couldn't take much more of her, even if he understood her rage.

"When he gets back I'll-"

"You'll do nothing, Yang Xiao Long, without facing me first." Ozpin growled lowly, Glynda at his side flinching visibly at his tone," Rest assured, I know what he did. And if I had been in his place, would have done the same damn thing."

Everyone, even Ruby, looked slightly surprised at his comment and Glynda put voice to their thoughts," What do you mean?"

"Zanmei and I have fought Lautrec many, many times. We have never beaten him aside from one time, with the help of three others, and he apparently survived the fall. Had he elected to attack Lautrec instead of following his order through, Lautrec would have killed Miss Rose immediately, beaten him into the ground, killed Miss Adel, Miss Belladonna and Mister Winchester, then killed Miss Schnee anyway. So, you tell me Miss Xiao Long, in that situation do you take ONE death or SIX?" Yang hesitated, the fire leaving her eyes slightly before she seemed to deflate slightly before collapsing into a seat beside Ruby, making Ozpin sigh," Think about how angry you are, and think of what HE is going through. He killed a friend of his."

"I just can't believe he did it….." Yang muttered quietly, laying her head on Ruby's lap and turning to face Ozpin," What do we even do, if he comes back?"

"I forgave him the moment it occurred, the rest is up to you two and no one else." He muttered easily, leaning back and against Glynda's shoulder," If you two don't want him to stay, I'll get him an apartment in Vale and we'll work as Huntsmen for Hire with the kingdoms."

"You'd quit being a professor?" Yang asked in a surprised tone, Ruby starting to play with her hair idly and staring at Yang's head, now taking up the space where her lap had been.

"Yes. He's my brother, and I'd gladly follow him into hell itself." Ozpin laughed dryly at a realization," In fact, I DID once, so I suppose moving and getting a new job isn't much of a jump."

"And you'd still trust him, after what he did?" Ruby muttered quietly, still staring down at Yang's head. Ozpin smiled grimly, leaning back and looking at her.

"I trust him with my life, and soul, and this has not changed that. Like I said, he took the single best option he had." Ozpin sighed lightly, looking at Ruby," Sometimes, there are no good options. But know this; he went against everything he believes to save you, Ruby. Please, give him a chance to make it up to you."

"Would you do the same, Professor Goodwitch?" Ruby half-muttered, Yang turning to look at the woman who nodded, smiling thinly.

"I would, and happily at that. He was put in a horrible scenario, with no options that aren't horrible, and took the one that was the least of them." Ruby nodded, looking back down at Yang.

"I guess you're right…" Yang muttered quietly, face screwing up as she sat upright in her seat," Damn it, why did this happen? How did they even get IN the academy?"

"Those two with them infiltrated us, and helped Lautrec get in. The other two are currently in their rooms, under heavy guard, but they seem to be innocent especially based on Adamu's messages." Yang growled angrily, standing up and walking towards the door after Ozpin finished," Where are you going?"

"I need to get some air, blow of some steam or something," she opened the door and slammed it closed, and Ozpin sighed and looked at Ruby who merely shrugged lightly and leaned back in her bed.

"So," he started quietly," Can I ask you a favor?" She nodded quietly, looking at him and he took a shaky breath," Would you at least consider helping him? Without you, I fear he could slip away and Hollow out. If that happens… It would take the concerted efforts of dozens of professional Huntsmen to contain him, and many would die."

"I was always going to give him a chance. He's a good person, I know that, and I also know what kind of choice he had to make. I just need…."

"Time. I understand that, and respect it. You should have plenty of that, given what Zan has done, or at least what I think he has." Ozpin sighed quietly, leaning back," He's gone after Lautrec, alone, to try and get revenge for what he made him do."

"What? Where is he?" Ruby asked worriedly bolting upright. Ozpin smiled thinly because, though he hated manipulating people, he was damned good at doing it.

"Gone, and I don't know where. He's on a crusade to regain his honor, for failing to protect Weiss and Blake. I won't interrupt that." Ozpin held up his Scroll, before setting it on the bed," My Scroll, however, can track HIS. So if someone were to, say, take it and track him they would be able to find him. And I doubt I'd ever know who had done it."

Ruby blinked, watching him stand abruptly and walk from the room with a happy, knowing smile. Glynda, looking amused and annoyed in equal measure, quickly followed him out and left Ruby alone with Ozpin's Scroll, the tracking software open on the screen. She plucked it off the bed, quickly changed, and ran from the room carefully, wary of her missing eyes throwing off her ability to walk.

Zan was still close, close enough to catch at least.

(Yang Xiao Long, Third Person)

Yang was alone, in the empty dorm, sitting on her bed and looking around. The door was in splinters across the floor and Yang could practically see the corpses lying there, even though they'd been taken away for funeral preparations. She was alone, with the loss and memory of her team.

And she couldn't stand it.

So she hopped off the bed and walked over to JNPER's door, knocking loudly. When no one answered, he knocked again. Then a third time. She groaned, and started to knock again when a hand tapped her shoulder and she turned, looking down at Neo and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" She asked quietly, watching the girl smile sympathetically before pulling a bag around her and holding it up. Inside, was a small box of beer and Yang felt her eyebrows shoot up until she looked to her left and saw Roman leaning against the door to his dorm.

"We heard what happened, kid. Sorry we weren't here to lend a hand. Come on over, we'll have a drink," Yang looked down at Neo, then back at Roman and sighed.

"Maybe a drink would be good…"


	28. The Knight : Part I : Darkness

**(A/N: And thus begins 'The Knight' arc. Hope you lot enjoy it. ~)**

(Zanmei, The Forest)

I could sense them, all of the Grimm around me, despite them entirely ignoring my own existence. The Dark's influence in me was just as easy to sense, and I disliked the cool slithering of the shadows across my skin. But I had to admit, my head rolling back across my shoulders to look up into the night sky….

Gods, did it feel good. The power, the pure unhindered strength that poured through my veins, and radiated off me in black vapors, which surrounded me in a thin shadow. It didn't obscure my vision though, in fact, even in the darkness deep in the woods I could see clear as day. And, in the distance near the cliffs where I saw ruins clinging in shattered pieces, I could sense if not see Lautrec's presence growing ever nearer, and felt the Dark surge through me with a thrill that instilled a lust for his very soul to crush and rend.

Deep down, I knew this was the dark corrupting me, and I pushed the lust away forcefully and grunted, continuing my slow, steady march forward. He would pay for his sins, against the Gods, against me, but more importantly he would pay for what he did to Ruby and her friends.

That, I swore on my soul and both the Light and Dark, both of which I knew sought that bastard's demise at this point. Soon enough, I saw him standing there on the cliff's edge patiently, as though he'd been waiting. Head jerking when I stepped into the clearing, he chuckled dryly and turned.

"I knew I sensed the Dark following me, and it wasn't from my Grimm." He paused, watching me adjust the great-sword in my hand as the dark radiated off of me," So, do tell how one such as you who is so deluded by the ways of the Light, has come before me wielding the powers of the dark? With enough intensity to make the Grimm admit you so far, with no challenges at all, you aren't just lost in a passion."

I felt the Dark coalesce around my throat eagerly, the serpent's voice in my ear," Take my gift of speech, for so long as you and I are one, as a token of peace." I grunted, feeling the shadows constrict around my throat for a moment and closing my eyes, before smiling and opening them.

"A temporary pact, for the sole purpose of tearing you apart Lautrec," My voice, deep and crackling with a sinister lisp like a serpent, felt foul in my own ears even as I spoke and saw Lautrec reel back in surprise, before laughing manically.

"He speaks! Heh, I could have sworn I put an end to your annoying prattling when I cut your throat," I took a threatening step forward and he held up a hand and waved me forward seemingly, until I felt a presence behind me and turned to see a large Beowolf, scarred bone plating and massive size denoting it as being ancient, carrying Ruby's squirming form in one paw and her scythe in the other before tossing her on the ground before taking Ruby's precious scythe in both hands and hurling it to Lautrec's waiting hand. "Now, you could come after me and maybe fight me, but the Grimm here follow MY command. And they will tear her to pieces."

"Zan, I'm sorry…" I looked down at Ruby's downcast expression, sighing lightly at her clear sorrow," I got caught again and now you're stuck, again."

"Indeed, the last time it happened you butchered her friend. Tell me, how did it feel to murder someone innocent?" I growled, stepping toward him again before looking at the Grimm surrounding us, mainly Beowolves but that would be enough to overwhelm me and kill Ruby. "Answer me, how did it feel to absorb her soul?"

"W-what?" Ruby stammered out, looking between the two of us, and I felt the dark intensify in anger and shame at his statement and looked away from the inquisitive fearful silver eye.

"Didn't he tell you? When an Undead kills someone they-"

"Silence!" I roared, placing myself between him and her, slamming my shield into the ground loudly, clanging of stone and steel. Ruby visibly flinched, the Darkness swirling around me visibly enough to slightly obscure me from her view and vice versa. "No more will your foul tongue speak of things you cannot comprehend, you bastard!"

"You dare to say I, Lautrec of Carim, do not comprehend how an undead survives? I have lived for millennia, while you slept in that wretched chamber, safe from my wrath for what you did to me! To all of your fellow Undead!" He laughed loudly, not the mocking laugh I had grown familiar with but instead a cold, pained one. As though he were choking back a vile taste or bile rising in his throat," We feed on the very souls of the things we kill. That's why I made you kill her!"

"I said silence!" I roared angrily once more, glaring at him under my helmet as my emotions raged through me and were mirrored by the violently swirling Dark coalescing around me coldly.

"Zan!" I turned at the shrill, desperate scream to look down at Ruby, kneeling on the ground beside me, her face etched with worry and concern, instead of anger or disgust as I had feared. "Is that true?"

"Yes. When an undead kills someone or something, we absorb their life energy, knowledge, and memories depending on the power of the individual we killed." She blinked and nodded slowly, biting her lower lip anxiously before looking up at me again.

"So, uh, what'd you get from Weiss?" I blinked in response, my mouth opening slightly in surprise at the question," And, uh, how are you speaking?"

"He can speak because the Dark is allowing him to," Lautrec shared unwelcomingly, chuckling when I shot him a dry, angry look," The same dark which created the Grimm you fight? Flows through him now."

"Zan is a good guy, so don't you dare try and say he's one of those monsters!" I blinked, surprised at the now standing girl, and smiled thinly," He can answer for himself, so attack or shut up!"

"Oh, I see why you like this one, Zanmei. She's got fire. And a nice, bright soul too." Ruby rolled her eye, and looked at me evenly.

"Well, explain." I blinked again, her intense glare not hindered by her height or missing eye, on the contrary both seemed to exaggerate the intensity.

"A Dark seeker Serpent talked to me, and offered to help me kill Lautrec, I took the offer and it has been helping me since. Purely temporary, I promise." Ruby nodded, motioning for me to continue and I sighed," As for Weiss, I absorbed mostly her emotions…"

"Which were?" She asked quietly, and I paused, looking across at Lautrec angrily.

"Anger, sorrow and betrayal. Emotions that bastard spawns regularly and with intensity that only ever seems to increase." Lautrec laughed lightly, crossing his arms impatiently and leaning against a shattered column which appeared to have once been a part of a bridge judging by the crumbling ruins behind it before I looked back at Ruby and knelt, lowering my head," I'm sorry I killed her."

"Zan, look at me and take off the helmet." I blinked, doing so and holding it in my hand and looked at her curiously. She nodded, pulling her hand back and slapping me across the face harshly before grabbing her no doubt stinging hand and wincing," Damn, that hurt." She shook it, looking back at me and smiling slightly," I know why you did it, and I can never forget what you did. I don't even know if I can forgive you for it, not yet at least. But you can start to earn my forgiveness by doing me a favor."

"Anything." I swore quietly, returning my helmet to my head and rising to my feet easily, frowning down at her seriously with my mask firmly affixed to my face.

"I want you to kill him. Tear him apart and destroy him," she growled lowly and I felt the Dark swirl around me eagerly as I smiled, turning my head leisurely to look at him.

"With absolute pleasure, my lady." I turned my head lazily to Lautrec, smiling," Think you can beat me now, you swine?"

"Why don't we find out, foolish little knight?" He laughed loudly, drawing his blades easily and discarding the scythe at his feet and stepping toward me," Because I may fall one day. But I can tell you this, it won't be here. Not by your hands."

"Ruby," I whispered," the instant you get a chance, you get your scythe and run to Beacon. I can beat him with the dark's aid, I know I can. But not while I protect you, so please run." I looked down at her and she, hesitantly, nodded.

Lautrec readied himself, straight-sword in his right hand out front with the left, wielding his shotel, down at his side across his stomach so the blade curved across his chest. I snapped my shield arm into a sharp angle at my side, Ruby sliding up next to me so I could shield her from any projectiles he may launch, and raised my sword horizontally, resting on the upper edge of my shield easily.

The massive Beowolf from earlier lunged at my back and I pivoted on my heal, swinging over Ruby's head and cleaving it in half before several more rushed at me, colliding heavily with my shield. With a roar, I pulsed Dark outward and they turned to vapor, their bony armor falling uselessly to the side and the remaining beasts backing away warily, Lautrec's laughter reaching my ears as I spun and intercepted a stab meant for Ruby with my shield, arm extended straight out.

Lautrec seized the chance, swinging the shotel around my exposed shoulder and yanking back to try and yank me off-balance. Instead, strength bolstered by the Dark, I merely staggered backward, smiling viciously over my shoulder and slamming my elbow back and into his helmet before stabbing my blade up, into another Beowolf's chest and yanking it to the side, beheading a second.

Spinning to face the staggered Lautrec, I saw Ruby shoot off with a flash of petals towards her weapon and I couldn't help myself, I laughed loudly as another pair of Beowolves were cleaved in half and a third was crushed beneath my shield before I raised it, intercepting Lautrec's slashing straight-sword easily before angling my shield and, faster than normal, spinning around him and swinging my massive blade easily and quickly, aiming for his exposed back.

He swore audibly, rolling under the swing and rising quickly across from me with a somewhat impressed nod of his head," The Dark seems to suit you, Zanmei. Ironic, given your name, isn't it?"

I ignored him, swinging my sword overhead and cracking the ground where he'd been standing before raising my shield to block a counter attack. Lautrec backpedaled easily, watching me warily for several long seconds before looking behind him. I followed his gaze to see Ruby, contending with a half-dozen Beowolves with relative difficulty, mostly due to her lack of perception I assumed.

"She handles herself rather well, when she stands half a chance against her opposition," he admitted begrudgingly, turning to look at me," Don't worry, I won't kill her after I beat you down. Or at least, we'll have some fun first."

I growled, charging toward him and swinging horizontally once more, growing more infuriated with each following unsuccessful hit I sent towards him. Likewise, I could sense his own growing anger as he too failed to get through my defenses, my own strength and speed being augmented massively by the exhilarating intoxication of the Dark's power. Soon, as I allowed it to condense and further my power inside of me, I found myself pushing Lautrec back towards the cliff before finally crushing him against the stone pillar which he had been leaning against shortly before, denting his breast plate inward and cracking the old stone, chips and chunks falling around him as he wheezed and collapsed to the ground, leaning against it limply.

I looked away from him, watching Ruby cut down another Beowolf before she turned to me and smiled brightly, which only seemed to aggravate me after she ignored my direct instructions to run," So," I turned to look down on the wounded man, his voice cracking slightly as he spoke," you finally beat me, after all these years. So what now?"

"Now you die, for the sins you have committed no other end would be acceptable." He chuckled as I raised my blade and held up his hand, as though signaling something. I turned, looking at the forest around us.

Thousands upon thousands of pairs of glowing red eyes locked onto us, easily the number of Beowolves that had attacked beacon previously if not coupled with the numbers of the other varieties of Grimm. Ruby shot to my side in a flash of petals, breathing heavily and decorated in small cuts as well as both her blood and the Grimm, her own blood leaving thin tracks in the darker Grimm gore. I looked down on her, frowning heavily behind my mask," I told you to run, not fight."

"I-I know, but there were too many to get by, and you needed help!" I sighed, looking at Ruby's anxious expression before I looked out at the forest, teeming with the black wolves and their bony armor. Before I looked down at the fallen warrior again, resting my blade on my chest easily.

"It's okay, you were just trying to help. And you did. Would've been harder to beat him if you hadn't," I paused looking down at Lautrec as his hand dropped painfully to his side," So, what game are you playing now, Lautrec?"

"The one where you walk away or I have my hounds descend on Beacon in mass. We both know how bloody that would be," he sighed, laughing loudly and I growled angrily, swearing inaudibly as the Dark once more swirled around me," So then, little knight, will you walk away? You will survive the onslaught, but will the little Rose? Or her friends at Beacon?"

"How do you know my name?" Ruby asked quietly, collapsing Crescent Rose into her rifle form and resting it against her stomach lightly, watching the Grimm scurrying about in the forest.

"I did my research. The whole point of going into that school, of planting my agents to get me in, was to get to my old friend here. It was useful to know who he cares about, who he loves, so I could hurt him like he hurt ME." I blinked, looking down at Lautrec curiously as I knelt, Ruby sitting against my shield which I rested on my shoulder comfortably.

"Explain." I demanded coolly, and Lautrec for once grew somber and serious, looking at me warily for a moment.

"When you rekindled the First Flame, when you MADE this world," I winced lightly at Ruby hearing that, but elected to shelf the issue for the time being," Only a few of us survived. Most of the Old Gods were already dead, but of the few still alive almost all were destroyed. Including my beloved Fina... Everything I ever did was for her. And because of you, she died."

"I didn't know that would happen, Lautrec."

"I don't care! Did you ask anyone's permission to do that? No, you just decided everyone's fate for them and destroyed lives everywhere!" I sighed, looking down at him as he screamed at me.

"You betrayed me far before that ever occurred, and you know that to be a fact," I glared down at him, and heard Ruby sigh before looking up at her questioningly before she hopped off my shoulder and walked around to glare down at Lautrec.

"You killed my friends, but I do feel sorry for you." She said quietly, and I stood up behind her as Lautrec snarled cruelly.

"I don't want your sympathy."

I felt the Dark coalesce once more by my ear, the cruel rasping of the Dark seeker serpent echoing in my ear," Kill him, take our revenge. I will not allow his influence over the creatures to persist. You and your friends will be safe."

I nodded, smiling cruelly and Ruby looked up at me," The Dark Serpent will keep the Grimm away; we'll be fine if we kill him." Ruby nodded, and I reached into my bag to delicately pull out the Lloyd's Talisman before smashing it across his face. He spluttered angrily, flailing his arms in a vain attempt to ward me off before I slammed my sword into his chest, cleaving him in half easily.

"So," Ruby started, smiling grimly up at me before her face brightened," When we get back, wanna get something to eat?"

I opened my mouth to speak, sighing when only the pained cracking echoed from my mouth before simply pulling her in gently for a hug. One which she returned happily, making me smile before we started our walk back. True to the dark seeker's words, not a single Grimm got in our way even once.

And now, with Lautrec dead, I could try and repair Ruby's soul, which had been tainted by the chaos of her friend's deaths. A difficult task and not one suited to someone who had touched the Dark as I had, but surely Ozpin could help me do it. That damned man could do anything after all.


	29. The Knight : Part II : Warmth

**(A/N: So, at about this point in writing this chapter I decided to split it into several chapters for the purposes of length. When you complete the entire arc, think of each chapter as one long chapter. That is too long, in my mind, so I opted to instead separate them. As a result, Blake's reaction wasn't explained last chapter. I apologize for that. This arc WILL answer that question, however. **

**This chapter will focus on Yang, building her up and answering some questions. Next chapter will be Ozpin's, and then a wrap-up with the others like Adam and Nora.)**

(Yang Xiao Long, Third person, Adam, Neo and Roman's Temporary Dorm, Third Person)

Yang strolled into the immaculately clean dorm with faux swagger, fists on hips and strutting cockily into the room as if she owned it by her sheer presence. This was, of course, simply how she acted especially when stressed or upset, and her swagger didn't hide her dishelved clothing and hair, or her puffy and dull eyes. All of which was quickly taken note of by both Roman and Neo, who had thus far survived thanks to the ability to read and manipulate people.

Roman sighed tiredly, already regretting agreeing to help Neo with this, before reaching into the bag and grabbing a can for each of them, tossing the last at Yang who caught it deftly," Giving alcohol to minors, Roman? For shame."

"Yes, what would my mother think of her hardened criminal of a son giving a teenager who fights monsters a beer?" Roman ground sarcastically, leaning back and taking a large drink of his can," Now, sit down, take a drink, and talk."

"Talk? With a mute and a criminal?" Yang asked sarcastically, cocking her hip and smirking defiantly until Roman gave her a glare and she sighed, taking a seat and, when he pointed at her can insistently, a drink of her beer. "What exactly am I supposed to say, Roman?"

Neo signed quickly, Roman watching her and translating," Whatever you want, just vent or whatever. Talk about Zan, or Ruby's eye, or your dead friends."

"What's to talk about? He butchered Weiss, Blake offed herself because of it, and Ruby lost an eye because he couldn't do his damn job and protect any of them." Yang shrugged relaxedly, sipping from the can lightly. This did little to mitigate Neo and Roman noticing the bitterness entering her voice, of course, and both shared a look before Roman sighed.

"Do you know why Blake killed herself?" Roman asked airily, smiling at Yang's immediate confusion," I asked one of the White Fang grunts working for me about it one time. See, we went out for a run and I took this girl, little wolf Faunus, with me because she was a good scout. We got attacked by some Grimm and she died, so I told her little boyfriend. Kid went nuts, raging and screaming like someone yanked his tail off. Then he grabbed one of the men's rifles and bang. Blew his brains out."

Neo took a spot next to Yang's chair, hopping up on the desk against the far side of the room with her legs to either side of Yang a couple feet in front of her, and started signing to Roman," Yes, yes, I'm getting there ice cream cone." Yang heard Neo huff behind her and smiled thinly as Roman continued," Anyway, they were 'mated'. It's a Faunus thing, meant to be for life. Very, very deep bond and when one dies… Well, the other just loses it. Usually, they die. Almost every time, in fact, as they typically kill themselves."

"Well… that's a thing, I guess." Yang muttered, leaning back and setting her can on the table next to Neo.

"And Zan?" Roman prompted simply, waving a hand at Neo who grabbed Yang's can and laid her arm over the blonde's shoulder, holding it there until she sighed and took it back.

"He killed Weiss, which caused Blake's death, and HIS job was to protect them. It's his damn fault." She shrugged simply, sighing as though it were an inevitable conclusion which, in her mind, it really was. To her, Zan had failed and was to blame for every death that had occurred, as well as for Ruby losing her eye. "If he had just fought harder, everything would be just fine. If I had BEEN there, instead of in the hospital with YOU," she turned and glared at Neo who, surprised at the sudden aggressive turn towards her," maybe I could have fought too. Maybe-"

"No." Roman snapped angrily, jumping to his feet and surprising both Yang and Neo," If you had been there, and had fought, YOU would be dead too or things would be the same as they are now, and you'd still blame him. It was a fucked situation, and people died. I get it, it hurts but he's hurting just as much."

"No he's not! He barely fucking knew them!" Yang screamed loudly, throwing her can across the room at Roman. Roman opened his mouth to shout back, and Neo hopped over Yang, pivoting over her shoulder to get in between them and waving her arms to get their attention.

Roman glared down at her angrily, and she started signing away at him," Fine, I'll go… You can deal with this, since you seem so damn keen on it. Dunno why you have such a-"Neo lunged at him, covering his mouth as her eyes flashed to pink and brown and he chuckled dryly behind her gloved hand, nodding easily and walking out the door.

Neo locked the door behind him, turning to look at Yang who seemed to have deflated quickly, walking over to one of the three beds and falling into it," Is he right, Neo?" The small girl looked down at the buzzed blonde quietly and sighed, nodding slowly with a grim smile. "So, you think I should ask Zan what he was thinking then? Let him explain?"

Neo nodded, downing the last of her beer and finishing Yang's quickly in two quick shots and enjoying the dull buzz that settled onto her quickly before hopping onto her own bed and grinning mildly drunkenly at the ceiling.

"You drink a lot huh?" Neo raised a hand, a single thumb raised above her clenched fist, and Yang laughed before turning to look at the girl. Neo was just lying there, legs dangling over the edge of the bed and swinging gently. "Wanna take a nap?" Another thumb up. "Cool. So, uh, thanks for trying to help. Sorry I hit you." Neo just waved her off, grinning drunkenly," Wanna, uh, cuddle? I usually cuddle with Ruby but…" Neo thought for a moment, before her eyes shifted to brown and she rolled off the bed and hopped on top of Yang, shifting until they were both comfortable and falling asleep.

A few hours later, Roman peeked into the room and smiled before killing the lights and sauntering down the hallway," Knew that wouldn't take too long~."


	30. The Knight : Part III : Long Nights

**(A/N: So, this will be the final part of the Knight Arc. I am sorry it took me so long to get this up; I had someone I know who had a friend kill themselves and have been dealing with people calling them attention whores and whatnot for doing so. So, been dealing with helping her and dealing with those asswipes. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.)**

(Ozpin's Office, Third Person)

"Are you sure it was wise, letting her go after him alone like that?" Glynda asked quietly, sitting in the seat across from him. Ozpin smiled, looking her over worriedly. She'd tried to help him when Lautrec stormed into his room, and she'd been easily batted aside by a blast of Dark which had incapacitated her.

"I sensed two sources of Dark when I sent her, and knew one was Lautrec. Had I pursued and found him using the Dark to fight Lautrec, I would have been forced to purge him and Lautrec would have escaped. When he gets back, hopefully Miss Rose's presence and Lautrec's likely demise will have quelled the Dark's influence and I can elect to ignore his lapse in control due to circumstance." Glynda opened her mouth to ask what he meant, then decided against questioning anything to do with his faith for fear of starting a massive tangent about it. Instead, she just opted for a more important question.

"What exactly is this Dark you keep mentioning?" Ozpin sighed, taking a long drink from his coffee before setting it on the table and looking at the woman across from him," Please, don't dodge this. It's important now, for me to know."

"Yes, I suppose it is isn't it?" Ozpin nodded, and leaned back in his chair," Very well, first you must understand something about Humanity itself. Everyone, including you and I, has Humanity and a Dark Soul. I explained these to you long ago, when I told you about the Grimm only having the latter in any large quantities. You remember?"

"Yes, I remember."

"Good, well, the Dark is connected to the Dark Soul, while Humanity is connected to the Light half of our souls. When someone performs Miracles, like you have seen both me and Zanmei do, they use the Light affinity half of their soul." Ozpin paused, raising his hand and muttering under his breath, a series of sparks arcing around his hand before dropping it to continue speaking," Some people prefer to use their Dark Soul to fuel their powers, usually people only use it sparingly to fuel Pyromancies or Sorceries."

He paused for a moment, taking a long drink from his mug before continuing," Now, my organization permits some things, begrudgingly, like the Rite of Kindling and other minor magics. But people like Lautrec don't just use it like that, they embrace everything about it, lost to madness and sin like no other. The Way teaches that such people are to be purged of their darkness or die."

"So, if Zanmei and Ruby return and he still carries the Dark in him?" Glynda prompted worriedly, making Ozpin sight and smile grimly.

"The Way says I must kill him or purge him, if that is the case. But…"

"You don't think you need to kill him, if he's still a good person. And you don't think you'd be able to make yourself do it anyway," Glynda said smiling, and Ozpin couldn't help but reflect the look and sighed.

"Why must you read me so often?"

"Because," Glynda said simply, taking his empty mug and walking across the room to fill it," I quite enjoy reading you, and you are SO easy to read." Ozpin looked out at the dark sky when he felt the Dark pulsing violently, standing and walking out onto the balcony itself to stare out at the forest. Glynda worriedly followed, standing next to him on the balcony and following his gaze to try and see whatever he was looking for," What's wrong?"

"The Dark just pulsed and is receding, so either they both died or Miss Rose found Zanmei and her presence is helping him maintain his sanity." Glynda looked surprised for a moment, looking out at the forest.

"You put that much stock in her?" Ozpin laughed quietly, staring out at where he sensed the Dark last.

"Undead vary in a few things, like susceptibility to the Dark and sensitivity to Souls. Zanmei can sense souls easier than you and I can see or hear, and can tell a lot about a person based on them. When we first met, he was singed, covered in blood and limping and I was burnt and broken, slumped against a wall.' Ozpin turned, laying an arm around Glynda's shoulders comfortably," Shoulda died there, but he sensed me and carried me to a bonfire so I could heal up. Even waited and protected me from the Hollows, all because of my soul."

"So he, what, judged people based on their souls?"

"Still does, in fact. That's why he likes Miss Rose and the others so much, he knows who they are just by being near enough to see their souls. He's never learned by experience, only by looking at souls." Ozpin sighed, looking up at the shattered moon orbiting their planet," But I don't worry about him. He can handle damn near anything that comes his way if he has enough time to get ready for it."

"So, I hate to ruin the nice mood we have going right now, but we need to decide what to do about the rumors starting to circulate about another infiltration into Beacon and that two people are dead." Ozpin sighed, removing his arm from Glynda's shoulders and leaning heavily against the balcony.

"What do you recommend?" Glynda straightened, grimacing in preparation for the storm she knew she'd kick up.

"Tell them all the truth, then send Zanmei to fight on the front lines with the Vale military teams being sent to Atlas to try and push back the Grimm. By the time he gets back, people will have dealt with what's happened and he might stand a chance of getting back in with his friends." Ozpin sighed, nodding regretfully before turning to her.

"You…. May be right, actually. But he cannot go alone, surrounded by Grimm and strangers. I'll need to send someone with him, to keep him sane and on the road to the light….." He sat up suddenly, pushing off the balcony's edge and smiling," I'm going on a trip, Glynda."

"A…trip?"

"Yes, a trip for three. Zanmei and I are going to Atlas for a while, to fight the Grimm." He smiled nonchalantly, walking into his office with Glynda in tow behind him. "Get Miss Rose ready as well, she shall accompany us to the north. I doubt he'd be willing to leave her behind for as long as I intend to be gone, with the Grimm incursions getting bad enough I am going to the front."

"But… that's not why you're going to the front."

Ozpin chuckled quietly at her confusion, smiling as he sat at his desk," Yes, but HE will be told that's why I'm going."

"I… understand. I trust you will be careful out there? She's still going to be adjusting to missing an eye." Ozpin nodded, smiling easily and leaning back into his chair comfortably.

"She'll not go into actual combat if it can be helped, I just feel she needs to be there to prevent the Dark corrupting Zanmei. If he falls into madness, even for a few minutes, the death toll on every side will be massive. She can quell that, hopefully, so we don't lose a few platoons because Zanmei lost control." Glynda nodded, typing out a message for Ruby and her team," Also, send Adam a message with the details of what happened to Miss Belladonna, he and her are old… friends. And I feel he deserves a more personal touch on his being notified of her passing."

"I understand, I'll message him personally and put him up in a hotel in Vale for a few days, along with the rest of JNPER. Should I also make arrangements to have Miss Rose's supplies gathered and prepared?"

"That would be best, yes. And try and keep it low key, if possible. Miss Xiao Long doesn't need the added stress of her sister being deployed to a warzone on top of everything else." Glynda nodded, quickly saying a goodnight and leaving to prepare everything. Ozpin simply frowned heavily, looking out the window with taught, tense muscles. He'd done his best to hide his unease with Glynda in the room, though he didn't doubt she'd noticed at least part of it, but his tension couldn't be helped by anyone except Zanmei himself showing him that he was not Dark corrupted nor mad.

If either came to pass, Ozpin held no doubts that he would face Zanmei in open combat. And if that occurred, he knew he would fall. Zanmei as he was now was a juggernaut of power and endurance, and Ozpin would be hard pressed to match that without considerable planning and assistance. If he used the Dark to augment himself, Ozpin would stand no chance against him without at least three Atlesian Heavy Frigates and a battalion of the best soldiers he could find. Hopefully, keeping Ruby near him would help keep such a thing at bay and, if he could get them to be even closer, then he could even reverse some of the damages already done.

For now, he could on pray and hope. So he stood, deciding to return to his quarters to do both of those things.

(JNPER, Vale, Dawn of Dust movie theater, Third Person)

Nora laughed, leaning into Ren's chest from her seat on his lap as the main character of their movie once again made a fool of himself. Jaune and Pyrrha were sitting nearby, laughing quietly and enjoying both the movie and the fact that Nora was actually laughing and happy, something which they had spent the day digging out of her.

Adam and Elesis had ducked out of the group after dinner, saying they wanted to find a nice place to catch up a bit in private without a group around them. Both simply said they had questions for the other that they didn't think should be heard by others.

So, JNPER had simply spent the day hanging out and walking around Vale, and now that they had reached the evening were watching a movie after which they planned to return to Beacon for the night or crash at Pyrrha's new apartment and catch a ride the next day. As late as it was getting, they had each quietly concluded the latter would be the option they ended up choosing whether they wanted to or not.

But the four of them were content, happy even, right now. Despite how short that would end up lasting, they were happy to enjoy themselves. Moments like these seemed rarer every day, after all, so it was prudent to make the most of them.

(Adam and Elesis, Elesis' Private Apartment, Third Person)

Adam smiled thinly, watching Elesis put away the dried dishes in the kitchen. She'd roped him into cleaning her apartment. Or rather THEIR apartment as she had insisted he move in with her and when Elly decided she wanted something Adam knew to let it go, and he had finished his own tasks a while ago.

"So, what have you been doing all this time?" Elesis asked quietly, startling Adam out of his thoughts at the abrupt end to the silence.

"What do you mean?" He asked quietly, trying to think of a good answer that didn't include detailing his prior terrorist acts.

"You know what I mean, mister big bad terrorist," he growled at her lowly, and she laughed in amusement," Chill, I'm just curious what you been up to."

"Killing bad people, planning protests and attacks, and just passing time really while Cinder got her plans in order." He shrugged, walking around the small kitchen island and sitting on a stool there. "What have you been doing?"

"Training, working as a freelancer, looking for your sorry ass and trying to get a nice place like this one." Adam chuckled dryly at her jab, scratching at his neck nervously. "Gotta say, I almost thought you were dead."

"I did say I was sorry, right?" Elesis nodded, smiling thinly as she put the final dish away and turned to him," Because I truly am sorry, Elesis. I merely wanted to-"

"Yeah, I know, protect me. Shoulda just let me pick for myself though," she walked past him, plopping down on the couch," Now get over here and cuddle up, we're watching a movie."

"I don't cuddle, Elesis."

"You do now, with a slightly pissed mate demanding cuddles and a romantic comedy. Now sit." He sighed, walking over to the indicated spot and sitting next to her, allowing her to snuggle into his side and handing her the remote. "Good boy."

"I am a bull, Elesis, not a dog."

"Meh, just behave and I'll give you a treat later, bull or not. ~" He blushed lightly at her whisper, and she laughed at how easily he was embarrassed.

"I see, you're in one of THOSE moods are you?" She nodded, quipping 'yes' peppily, and Adam shuddered," Oh joy."

"Oh shut up, you love it when I get all touchy feely."

"No, I really don't." Elesis pouted and he sighed, leaning back against the couch leisurely," Just shut up and watch your movie."


	31. Raw Wounds : Part I : Stitches

**(So, the last arc ended last chapter and, as I said, those three chapters all occurred consecutively. This chapter marks the end of that, so enjoy.)**

(Adam Taurus, Elesis' Apartment in Vale, Third Person)

Adam stretched, groaning loudly on the couch before easing Elesis' head off his shoulder and striding into the kitchen drowsily to make coffee for the two of them. They'd wound up watching movies most of the night until they fell asleep, and Adam had to admit he enjoyed the cuddling despite himself.

Back when they had first met, the two of them had lived in a small hovel for a while until Adam left to join and eventually lead the White Fang but then he'd been the only one who could and clean usefully. It seemed Elesis had at least worked on those things, even if she hadn't quite calmed down in her further exuberance and her tendency to push his buttons at every available opportunity.

A half hour later, Elesis stumbled into the kitchen drowsily, taking the offered coffee from Adam idly and sitting at the table while he cooked a small breakfast for the two of them, carefully avoiding getting any popping grease on his mask.

Smiling thinly, which to Elesis keen knowledge of him may as well have been a beaming smile coupled with a happy dance, he served the bacon and eggs he'd 'scavenged' from the fridge and plopped into a seat opposite of Elesis," Morning."

"Mornin', Adam. By the way, your Scroll went off last night." Adam blinked behind his mask and took the phone from Elesis' outstretched hand, lifting a glass of iced water to drink before opening the small metal device and checking his inbox.

After a half a minute, Elesis leapt to her feet at the sound of shattering glass as Adam read the message and, seemingly in anger, crushed his water in his hand before growling lowly, a dull rumble echoing out of his chest.

"Adam, what's wrong?" She stood up, walking around the table and laying a hand on his shoulder before yelping in shock when he spun, grabbing her and shoving her against a wall. He was enraged, and that meant his control was lapsing so she went limp, avoiding eye contact and making herself seem smaller to remove herself as a threat and waiting out the initial aggression like she'd done so many times when they were younger. Eventually, his grip slackened and his breathing slowed and she knew it was safe to speak," What happened?'

"Blake is dead…." Her eyes widened, hearing his voice drop lowly and knowing the pain he must be feeling. "Goodwitch sent me a message, told me everything." He sank to his knees, slumping against her stomach and growling," That bastard, Zanmei, he killed her to save Ruby. Sacrificed Weiss knowing Blake would kill herself so that that little girl could survive."

"He couldn't have known about them-"

"I don't care, he caused this. I'll-"she knelt in front of him, grabbing his collar forcefully and shaking him slightly.

"Do what? Attack him? Ozpin himself would fight you and those two fought side by side when Beacon was attacked. By every news report, Zanmei is an incredibly competent fighter that rivals most professional Huntsmen. He'd tear you apart, Adam, especially if you attack in a rage like this!"

He glared at her angrily, sighing and slumping forward into a hug," Then what do you suggest?"

"We go and ask him about it tomorrow, after you have time to calm down so you don't end up smeared across a wall." He sighed, standing up and storming around the room angrily.

"He'll be gone by then, he and Ozpin are heading to Atlas to fight on the front to try and push back the Grimm incursion over there and buy everyone time to cope with what that bastard did to them."

"Wait, what'd he actually do?" He merely shook his head, gesturing at the table where his Scroll lay with the message still on full display.

"Read for yourself."

And so she did, sitting in her chair and watching Adam lean on the counter heavily, facing away from her. The message obviously spared the grittier details but the gist was still clear, an assassin attacked, beat Zanmei, Bake, Ruby and Weiss and then forced Zanmei to kill Weiss to save Ruby. She sighed, setting the Scroll aside and looking at Adam's stiff back with a grim smile," I would have killed the girl too, Adam, to save you. It was an impossible choice and he-"

"Save it, please. I understand why he did it but…. I can't forgive that right now, I can't just let it go that fast." Elesis sighed, nodding before she stood up and walked to his side.

"Then let's find some work to do, take your mind off it. Don't you still need to finish arranging transport for the Fang to Beacon?" Adam nodded, silently thanking her with a nod before walking into the living room to work on making said arrangements, mostly consisting of flight permits for his transports and Dust carriers so they wouldn't be hassled too over much.

Elesis was merely glad he wasn't running off to tear heads off and, most likely, end up with his own rolling across the ground.

(Zanmei Taiyang, Beacon Landing Pads, First Person)

I sighed, grunting as I lifted another crate of ammunition and carried it onto the small Bulhead. Ruby was sitting on a crate nearby, Crescent Rose sitting beside her, and talkin rather irate Yang who was accompanied by the seemingly now ever present small girl, Neo. Who seemed to drift around whatever room Yang was in ever since Yang came to Ozpin's office and found out about our deployment to Atlas.

Yang had been less than pleased to find out about it, immediately demanding to accompany them to the front to protect her sister. Ozpin had refused, saying she needed to stay behind in case threats came to Vale that required her power as a competent and devastating combatant. That had, somewhat, quelled Yang's protests and I was surprised when she seemed to ignore my presence at every avenue until now, when I turned and saw her walking toward me. I silently thanked the gods that I had elected to wear my armor today.

She saw me stiffen at her approach and stopped before sighing lightly," Chill, I'm not gonna hit ya, Big Man. I just have a few things to say, okay?" I nodded, looking past her at Ruby who was watching us nervously and Neo who was smiling easily.

"Okay, look, I just wanna say, you killed one of my best friends, got it? That's a big deal for me right now." I nodded understandingly, leaning against a crate behind me comfortably. "That said….. Thank you. You saved my sister and, now I've actually had time to think about it and talk it out with Neo and Roman, I get it. That was a shitty choice, but ALL the choices were shitty. You did your best, so thank you." I nodded again, surprised at her statement as I saw Ozpin walk out the door to the exterior landing pads, pausing for a moment and waving at me worriedly upon seeing Yang.

"So, I'll make you a deal. You bring back my sister in one piece, and I'll let you two stay together and forgive you for what you did." She offered her hand, smiling stiffly," Deal?" I nodded, grabbing her hand to shake it and she squeezed, moderately painfully," But if she dies, I will end you. Got it?"

I nodded again as Ozpin approached, shaking my hand good naturedly to alleviate the 'pain' and she smiled, walking to Neo before throwing an arm around her shoulders and half dragging the girl into the building and out of sight. I smiled, surprised at the amicability the girl was offering before turning and nearly jumping when I saw Ozpin standing beside me, donning his armor once more as he had done in the battle with hi sword hanging off his hip and his shield strapped to his arm.

"Zanmei, we need to have a brief chat before we go,'' I nodded, and he motioned for me to follow him into the Bullhead while Glynda and Ruby talked quietly, out of my hearing range. We stopped a few feet inside, where we could safely talk without being overheard," Look, we need to talk about you using the Dark against Lautrec last night."

"Yes, I know we do," I signed warily, grimacing behind my mask," I won't say I regret using it to catch and kill that snake however, nor will I promise never to use it again. It's too useful and without it, any other Dark corrupted Undead would slaughter us if they exist, something I feel is the case."

"And why do you feel that?" Ozpin growled, shaking his head slowly in exasperation, giving me a heavy look," The Serpent told you, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did. And I can tell you he never lied to me in the entire time we were working together, he was honest." Ozpin blinked at me in surprise, taking a step back and sighing tiredly.

"It's a servant of the Dark, Zanmei, you know you cannot trust it." I glared at him, feeling my aggravation rise.

"I am sorry, but I do not agree. He helped me stop Lautrec, helped me end him for good and even protected Ruby and I from the Grimm when we left after we killed him. I get that you're worried, and I swear I won't use it again without good cause." He stared at me for a moment before sighing and nodding.

"Very well. I also wanted to discuss Ruby with you, and specifically her combat orders." I blinked, looking at him squarely and he smiled," I'll protect her myself, Zanmei. I already spoke to Ironwood and he said he'd assign her, and me, to a defensive unit. You, however, will be operating as shock infantry with a Paladin support unit, just try and kill any Grimm you see. Same as always."

"I can handle that, easily. Just make sure they know to keep a bit clear of my swings," I laughed silently, and he mirrored the action.

"I will. You take care." He turned, striding into the Bulhead confidently and I walked back outside to look at Ruby, who gave me a somewhat worried wave.

She'd changed her outfit into a new combat suit, at my request, so she'd be safer. The outfit she'd been given was a full suite of light Seersteel armor, mostly just simple plates that covered the extremities with leather straps tying along the backs of the arms and legs, and the back. It had been delivered in silver, and I had painted it myself to make it black with dark red highlights around the plate's edges.

I had embossed the black chest-pate, only covering the upper half her torso, with her Rose symbol, and with Glynda's help I'd attached a combat skirt for her after removing the upper thigh plates to lighten her load a bit. She'd also tossed out the upper arm guards to further lighten her weight, despite my protests, and insisted on wearing her cloak despite my warning of the threat of an enemy grabbing it.

Ozpin paying the bill as a favor to me, I'd also procured some light, military grade boots and shorts for her, and she was wearing her black stockings under both, with a thin, light silver vest over a black long sleeve shirt, matching her primarily black skirt with its red highlights along the edge of the individual pieces of cloth. She'd replaced her old eye-patch with a new black one, a silver rose stitched into the front, and redone her hair so her bangs partially hid it.

"So, everything okay?" I nodded at her question, lifting another large crate and carrying it into the Bullhead with her following closely behind. I turned, walking past her to retrieve the final crate of munitions and supplies before walking it in and leading her into the front of the Bullhead to start our trip.

Due to an increase in Nevermore activities, we'd have to circle to the West and loop back to avoid being attacked, meaning the trip would take about eight hours. So, while Ozpin piloted, Ruby and I curled up in the back of the cabin and took a nap, hoping to rest up in case of a fight. So, she curled up in her cloak moderately uncomfortably in her new gear and used her hood as a pillow to lay against my shoulder.

And I tried desperately to remain calm in the damned metal machine as it flew.


	32. Raw Wounds : Part II : Red Snow

**(So, guys, from here on out please understand something VERY important. Events in this arc are divided between Vale, where war preparations are being made, and Atlas, a realm currently dealing with a Grimm Incursion. **

**Now, an Incursion is basically a Crusade. When Grimm numbers rise too high in a given area, an Incursion can result and is often devastating. Now, we know these Incursions are not normal but the characters don't. Please, please, please bear this in mind when judging Commanders and Generals for any mistakes they make. **

**Lastly, the soldiers you will see are NOT Huntsmen. They are normal people, like you and me, with armor and weapons. Don't expect any miracles from them or discount them, they're just men and women. **

**So, prepare for blood and, as always my lovelies, Stay Twisted~)**

(Zanmei Taiyang, First Person)

I looked up idly as I felt the Bullhead shudder gently and, a moment later, saw Ozpin stroll into view and smile down at me," We're at a forward base to refuel, just stretch your legs a bit." I nodded, gently jostling Ruby until she stirred, grumbling a bit before yawning loudly.

"Wassup?" She slurred sleepily, making me chuckle quietly as I rose to my knees laboriously in my heavy armor and grabbed my sword off a crate on my way out, opting to forego the shield in a most likely friendly area.

Outside the small Bullhead, I saw a large, open area. Maybe a hundred to two hundred feet wide from the center landing pads where I was standing, with large walls and thick-walled white buildings. All along the walls I could see soldiers in heavy armor carrying large rifles walking, patrolling idly on the lookout for any Grimm. At every corner of the square facility was a large, three barreled turret pointing up into the air to defend against aerial attack. In the center of each wall, between the anti-air defenses, was a short, eight-barreled cannon pointing horizontally away from the base, for ground defense. Tall towers sat behind each ground defense turret, presumably for sharp-shooters to pick off targets as they swarmed towards the defense walls and a good hard point for evacuations should they begin to swarm OVER the walls.

Small buildings and tents, seemingly having been constructed after the base itself, were assembled half-haphazardly around the walls and landing pads. It seemed like the base may have been here far longer, and for many different purposes, than would initially be perceived based on the soldiers and defenses arranged. Curious, I walked up to Ozpin who was talking to a Sergeant near a large tent, the woman's rank denoted on her chest and shoulders in bold red, and started signing easily.

"What kind of base is this? It seems oddly assembled." Ozpin held up a finger, asking me to wait while he signed a few forms and handed them to the helmeted woman, who ducked into the tent quietly after sending two soldiers in light, pale armor to presumably refill the tanks on the Bullhead.

"It's a research base, actually. Due to the Incursion that's going on, it's serving as a fort and an evacuation center for villages in the area. Hopefully, by the time any Grimm get near here the refugees will be evacuated to Atlas or Vale." I nodded; satisfied by his answer as I watched the men unload several crates from our Bullhead and carry them off into the camp and gestured at it," Oh, those? We were going to stop here from the start, to drop off some food and medicines for the refugees and soldiers here."

"Are we going to stay here, and help them?" Ozpin shook his head, frowning heavily and I raised an eyebrow.

"As much as I'd like to, we can't. We are technically mercenaries right now, and under Atlesian command. We've been ordered to the front, not near it. We can help on the front lines by keeping the Grimm at bay until our contract is up or we get recalled to Vale." He stepped by me, leading be back towards the restocked Bullhead," Now come on, we're just a short trip over to the main deployment area. You and Miss Rose need to get ready for combat duties on the way."

I nodded, following him into the transport as the door closed and quickly relaying his message to Ruby, who hopped on a crate, nearly missing due to her lack of depth perception, where she began going over Crescent Rose carefully, checking the mechanisms and ammunition thoroughly while I looked over my armor, tightening a strap or redoing a buckle as I carefully looked over my suit.

I finished before Ruby did, and watched her work for a moment or two until she finished Crescent Rose and tried to awkwardly adjust her armor, still new to the intricacies of it for a moment before I walked over and pulled her to her feet, eliciting a quiet 'eep' sound as I spun her around and started checking the straps on her back, behind her cloak. Finishing those, I knelt to check her leg plates before turning her around and, more slowly, showing her how to adjust her own straps and plates.

She picked it up rather easily and quickly which thoroughly impressed me and by the time we began to descend a few minutes later we were both fully geared and ready, which turned out to be warranted as Ozpin opened the intercom," There's a fight nearby, it's pretty bad so we're being routed to the Paladin unit there to assist."

"Got it, Professor!" Ruby answered, collapsing Crescent Rose into its rifle form and setting up next to the left side door," I'm setting up to engage out the right side with my rifle, gimme sight lines, 'kay?"

"Understood, Miss Rose. And call me Ozpin while we're in combat like this, we're a team right now." I smiled, lifting my shield up in my right hand and sliding my hands into the grips along the back before grabbing my sword and standing in front of Ruby and just to the side, bracing as the Bullhead tilted harshly and the few remaining crates slid a bit as the door opened and slid back.

I took a moment to regard the battlefield, an open, snowy field empty of anything with a thick forest on the north side, where Paladins and their supporting soldiers seemed to have been pushed back to. Across the field were a half dozen ruined Paladins, scattered intermittently, with dozens of support soldiers for each downed machine.

Ozpin circled the Bullhead once, Ruby's rifle cracking loudly occasionally as I saw a Beowolf or Boarbatusk wrench violently and topple. Once the circle was completed, Ozpin lowered the Bulhead to the ground as two Paladins, flanked by two dozen support troopers, shuffled forward and started to either pull crates off the craft or continued firing across the field.

When the last crate was carried out, the ammunition being quickly run to the other groups around the field to reload the fatigued, outmanned fighters, I trudged out and into the snow with my shield raised and my sword resting easily on my shoulder and simply marched toward the Grimm in spite of the shouts of protest from the soldiers.

As I heard the dull roar of the Bulhead take off, the Paladins behind me seemed to decide to abandon the psychotic Hunter and merely started firing their machine guns and grenades, tearing apart the Grimm who still continued pushing forward as though they weren't losing whole swathes of their forces to the reequipped humans, before a massive Beowolf lunged at me and I side-stepped the claws and plunged the great-sword deep into its side before smiling and letting the familiar feel of combat settle in.

I released the handle, turning and reaching over my shoulder to grab it and swing overhead and down into another wolf that had lunged at my side before slamming my shield's rim into yet another who lunged over its corpse and swinging horizontally though another three of the beasts who, helpless against my weapon, fell before me in droves.

I continued pressing forward, into the mass of monsters, with relative ease and glee as I easily dispatched them with quick, brutal swings of my large blade, or a crushing slam from my shield. Once or twice, I crushed in a rib-cage or skull with a well-timed kick or pommel smash.

I felt a Boarbatusk slam into my back, spinning up and over me into the air where I bisected it easily, dropping the blade and allowing its weight to crush a pair of wolves below it. Another wolf latched onto my back, scrabbling uselessly at my plates until I reached up with my hand, the blade resting in a dying Beowolf, and grabbed its snarling head before slamming it into the ground and crushing its skull with my shield.

Idly, I took note of how the familiarity of their attacks seemed to make the fight boring, too easy on me. I enjoyed that it meant less lost men and women, but still. The thrill of the fight was a major factor in keeping me in the fight. Getting distracted could-

I winced as a claw slammed into my jaw, cracking it and making me stagger before its head exploded, presumably from a round fired by Ruby as the Bullhead shot past and its forward guns carved a swathe around me. I snarled, sending a few souls to heal the minor wound before returning to the brawl-fest. Another few minutes and the Grimm actually surprised me, a feat that seemed to be mirrored for the other soldiers.

While a segment of their force, still sizable despite the combat, charged again at me, the rest retreated into the woods. The Grimm had tactically withdrawn from combat.

Curious, I turned and marched back to the assembling soldiers in the tree line where the Bullhead was waiting and laughed quietly when Ruby ran out of it and started fussing over my jaw where I'd been hit until she was satisfied I was unwounded. And the proceeded to berate me for several minutes for getting careless.

Once I managed to quell her, I joined Ozpin and a Lieutenant who were discussing the events," I don't understand it either, sir, but they do seem to have retreated entirely. Fly boys are calling it in, the Grimm are retreating across the entire front in every direction for half a mile."

"I see, do you want me to run a-"

"Hey guys, who is that?" We all turned, following Ruby's pointing finger to see my old nightmare returned to flesh.

"Is that… Oh gods," Ozpin turned to the soldiers," All of you, retreat now. Pull back everything, let me and Zanmei hold him here."

"Him? Hold who?" I held up a hand to quiet Ruby who was about to join the Lieutenant's protests as I glared at the new arrival with hatred.

"That is Artorias of the Abyss, young man, and he WILL kill every one of you unless you retreat. Now, run or die. You pick." I stepped forward, nodding at Ozpin who stood by my side, as Artorias reached behind him, pulling a massive, green great-sword off his back.

"Zan, you'd better make it out okay," Ruby muttered, and I nodded and watched her run into the forest with the soldiers before turning back to Artorias. When we had fought, he'd been wounded and maddened. His large shield indicated that at the very least, he was in good health. Not a good sign.

And so we charged towards each other, in the blacked snow with the smoke in the air.


	33. Raw Wounds : Part III : Twin Fires

**(So, I recently noticed something. If one goes to the RWBY X Dark Souls section of Fanfiction, one gets no screen. Turns out, my Fic is the one and only and so an error occurs in which the section doesn't appear to exist, due to it being rated Mature. So, yeah, that's a thing.**

**So, time for an announcement. The format for this arc will be alternating, between events in Atlas and events in Vale, each chapter. So yes, this chapter will take place in Vale and as such you will NOT be seeing any events in Atlas this chapter, in spite of the cliff-hanger ending I made. Merely doing this to preserve my length cap I typically try and keep for this story. **

**So, I have a problem. See, I don't know what to do AFTER this story so, if anyone has any ideas, I will accept them and then narrow it down to five for everyone to then cast votes on. **

**Lastly, and I hate to ask for it as I hate when others do it, but I DO take direction from you guys depending on what you seem to enjoy having read and would like to see happen. So please, mine friends and readers, do be so kind as to leave a Review.)**

(Yang Xiao Long, Third person)

Over the last day, Beacon had been incredibly busy as Huntsmen, returning either to stay in Vale for defensive purposes or stopping off on their way to Atlas or Vacuo, soldiers transferring to new posts, refugees fleeing the Grimm and White Fang members, as well as supplies for every group, came and went. The faculty and staff had spent the entire day rushing about, setting up tents and supply areas throughout the campus to help facilitate the war time preparations. Already, fringe border towns in the north were seeing the first signs of the Grimm Incursion threatening to leak across the sea and move into Vale territory and as such, Bullheads could be seen flying in and out of Beacon, both into Vale City and out into the wilderness to pick up the stranded civilians and on occasion even [picking up soldiers and Hunters.

At first, the White Fang had been seen as a threat and were confined to a corner of the courtyard if they wished to avoid harassment and abuse. Eventually however, Faunus Huntsmen, soldiers and students began to filter in and speak to the Fang members, and carrying back the information that they were reforming back into their more peaceful ways.

Upon hearing that their leader's old friend had been killed, the White Fang had poured out of the gate to help Adam, JNPER and Yang construct a, to them, fitting funeral for the two. The ceremony itself would be private, contained only to Adam, JNPER and Yang. The latter had tried to invite Cardin and his new team, but they had declined on the grounds they didn't know the group well enough and felt they would intrude.

So, around mid-day, the small group assembled on the cliff side and took seats in small wooden chairs in front of two pyres, one with a black veil and the other a white one. The symbols on them, however, had been reversed at Yang's suggestion so that Weiss bore Blake's emblem and vice versa.

Normally, a family member or spouse would handle the ceremony, unless a military commander saw fit to oversee the event himself. As Blake and Weiss had no family, one being an orphan and the other disowned, Yang had stepped up to take over the duties of organizing the ceremony and giving the speech. Needless to say, she wasn't very good at either. Jaune, as a leader, held enough rank to stand by Weiss' pyre with a torch and Ren had been picked as Yang's stand-in to hold Blake's torch while she spoke. Standing between the two pyres, Yang took a nervous breath and looked over at Adam, who merely nodded encouragingly with a grim smile, and she started to speak.

"This year has been hard on everyone, some have lost their lives and others their limbs and futures. My team managed to escape the worst of it for quite some time, longer than most others at least. Blake and Weiss were attacked by an assassin, who came quicker and hit harder than any of us thought would be possible. And…. Well, they were crushed. My sister lost an eye, and my two best friends died." She took a shaky breath, looking at Blake's pyre sadly," I dunno, maybe if I had been there to help it would have been a different outcome? I doubt it, if Zanmei couldn't take him in a straight up fight and Ozpin couldn't either, what chance did anyone ever really have?"

"Anyway, we all lost a friend to this. I lost a partner, as did Adam," the man nodded in acknowledgement, leaning back in his seat," and it sucks. But that's the life I chose, I guess, when I elected to become a Huntress. People die in this career field, it's just how it is. And yeah, it sucks but…. Blake wouldn't want us to mope about all day though, and Weiss would yell if we let our duties slip. So, I guess we should just do our best to, ya know, move on?" She sighed again, smiling bitterly at the assembly," I'm sorry, you guys, I'm no good at this kinda stuff."

She sighed again, waking over to Ren and taking the torch from him, and everyone stood in respect for the dead," So, see you guys on the other side."

Once the fires were burning, Yang did something uncharacteristic and quietly slipped away, back up to Beacon. She wandered for some time, eventually returning to RWBY's former dorm, now fully repaired and refurbished after the attack, and sat at the desk Weiss had been so fond of by the door, tracing the grooves of it sadly.

Then she looked up at the hanging bunks and remembered when they'd been put up, when Blake had first come out of her shell ever so slightly. They'd been making such good strides as a team, and everything had been going so damn well. Weiss and Blake were getting along well, and Yang even had to admit that Zan was making Ruby rather happy. They had been happy, DAMN happy, and then everything went to hell.

She felt the tears starting to well up in her eyes and was just about ready to have herself a nice, long cry in the shower when a knock sounded on her door. Sighing, Yang wiped her eyes and opened it to see Roman and a rather meek looking Neo with monochromatic pink eyes.

"Look, she's been worried sick about you. I dunno why, but she is. So, here. Have a Neo and a pack of beers," he pushed the small girl into Yang and set a bag on the desk," Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get some work done."

Yang sighed, letting go of Neo and walking over to one of the bunks after grabbing a beer," So, you were worried about me?" Neo nodded, rubbing her arm nervously and leaning against the closed door," Why ya worried about me? You know I can take it."

Neo shook her head, turning and rummaging through the desk to find a pen and some paper before scribbling on the small black note-pad she found," You shouldn't be alone right now like this. It's not safe."

"And what would you rather I do?"

Neo thought for a moment, scribbling animatedly," I dunno. Yell, cry, hit me, get drunk, whatever. Just don't repress it." Yang nodded, downing the entire drink in one go and grabbing another as the unfamiliar buzz started to kick in.

"I ain't gonna hit you again, Ice Cream Cone." Yang chuckled dryly when the small girl visibly relaxed, moving to sit on the opposite bunk," And I'm guessing you'll be stubborn and refuse to just leave?"

"I'm not going anywhere unless you knock me out and move me yourself," the girl wrote, smiling shyly.

Yang nodded, throwing back the second quickly and tossing the empty can across the room," You do realize I have next to NO emotional restraint because of my semblance, right? And you're in the room with me while I'm drinking and upset."

"You won't do anything to me that won't heal eventually," she shrugged uncaringly, feeling one of her eyes swap to brown," Besides, I did try to murder you. Least I can do is help you out." Yang grunted, emptying the third can and reaching drunkenly for the box again. Neo sighed, watching her fumble with it. The brew was a special kind made for Hunters because their Auras would negate alcohol fairly quickly, so a drink with a much steeper alcohol level was required. She sipped a can of her own idly, before reaching across with another note for Yang.

Yang surprised her, grabbing her tiny hand tightly and looking at her with glazed, drunk eyes," You said you wanted to help, right?" Neo nodded hesitantly, eyes once more returning to their dual pink states and Yang grinned almost predatorily. "Well, I'm REALLY stressed out. Mind coming over here and giving me a hand with that?"

Neo blinked, blushing furiously and then swallowed forcefully before nodding meekly. Yang's predatory grinned deepened and she pulled the small girl over to her. Neo would have 'eeped' had she been able, and could only hope Yang didn't regret this later.

(Glynda Goodwitch, Third Person)

Glynda groaned tiredly, looking at the two people in Ozpin's office. They were the other half of the team which had joined up when the infiltrators showed up, though they showed no inclination to be infiltrators themselves. On the contrary, they had surrendered quite peacefully when they realized what had happened and had made no moves to resist her questioning.

Stringent background checks had confirmed what they were telling her, that they really were just mercenaries hired by the other duo to complete the team. Where the traitorous duo had gone to, no one knew. But the two young Faunus had both volunteered to help find them and bring them in, or kill them, as the situation warranted.

"So, let me just get this straight, you two are perfectly willing to kill your former team-mates to make a point?" The two nodded easily, if appearing moderately nervous and Glynda nodded gently," Very well. You two will both be fitted with tracking chips, and monitored, for now until such time as I feel you have earned enough rope to have them deactivated."

"And when, pray tell, will that be?" Glynda glared at the Cat Faunus sternly and he shrank back, waving his hands in surrender," Fine, fine, sorry I asked."

"You both will be released when I decide it to be the appropriate measure, not any time sooner. I will notify you if I need anything at all from you but, for now, you are confined to your quarters." The two sighed unhappily, and Glynda raised an eyebrow at them

The young man, Tom, spoke for the duo normally and today seemed no different," Look, we don't mind the confinement. We get that, but Blue here needs more food. Her metabolism is a lot higher than normal, so could ya send us, I dunno a burger or something?"

"I'll see to it that a few extra provisions are provided for you two, but with things the way they are going supplies will be tight." The man glared at her evenly I response.

"Then give us work so we can get money and get our OWN supplies. I'm not lettin' Blue starve because you don't trust us enough to let us fight some damned Grimm."

"You will do as you are told, and nothing more will be deemed-"

"Bullshit. You either give her the food she needs, or you give me a way to GET the food, or you let us LEAVE to find a way to get her enough food to live on." Glynda glared at him for a moment before smiling thinly and leaning back in her seat.

"There is a growing number of Grimm in the forests near here. Clean them out for me, I'll see to it you're paid well for the work and that it's taken into consideration should the time for a trial or investigation be set aside for you." She narrowed her eyes warningly," Try and run, however, and I will see to it you are hunted down and executed. Am I clear?"

"Crystal, ma'am, crystal. And thanks for the opportunity." Glynda nodded and, with a wave, the two guards approached her desk from the wall and saluted, fists over their hearts and feet spread slightly.

"Take these two to the armory, then accompany them into the surrounding forests on a Sweep and Clear mission. Clear as many Grimm as you can, and plant traps in the surrounding area. I do NOT want another siege to hit us. Understood?" The two saluted again and, once the young mercenaries were moving, followed them out of the office.

With a tired groan, she opened up her Scroll to see what was next on her agenda. Back to back meetings all day long, the next being with Adam to discuss the Fang's potential involvement in helping clear the general area around Beacon and the area between the Academy and Vale City. This was, of course, opposed vehemently by the Vale Council so approving it could cause potential political problems, but Ozpin would have approved the actions if he'd been there and so she called Adam to come in when he was read.

She trusted Ozpin, and wouldn't make decisions he'd dislike. So, she had decided it best to let the Fang try and redeem themselves by helping out around Beacon.


	34. Raw Wounds : Part IV : Another Lost

(Zanmei Taiyang, Atlas Forests, First Person)

I intercepted Artorias' first strike, raising my shield above my head and sinking to my knees under the surprising force of the strike and grunting painfully as Ozpin rolled under my shield, aiming to cut across the Dark Knight's knees. Instead, he received a heavy boot to the chest and was tossed back from me by several feet.

Artorias then deflected my horizontal slash with his shield before angling it so my momentum carried my swing over his head and nearly off balanced me as I turned to the left before I could recover. He slammed his foot into my knee, nearly shattering it and forcing me down, and then followed it up with a shield bash across my face that sent me sprawling across the snow.

I attempted to rise and he growled, slamming his foot into my chest and raising his large emerald sword above me. He roared in protest as lightning arced into his chest, and had to fall back as Ozpin launched into a flurry of light attacks, pelting his shield uselessly as I staggered up. After a moment I was fully upright, and Ozpin stepped away from Artorias and into line with me.

"He's tougher than he was before," I grunted, cracking my neck loudly and stepping forward ever so slightly. He nodded at me and I stepped forward, thrusting forward in an attempt to impale the Abyss Walker.

Artorias merely side stepped, and I blocked his countering slash with my shield, feeling rather than seeing Ozpin use me as a step to leap up, over Artorias and slashing across his exposed back with a sound of tearing flesh. Artorias reeled away from the offending blade and I smashed my shield into him, throwing him to the ground where he rolled and leapt back to his feet a few yards away.

Enraged at the wound, minor as it really was, Artorias threw his shield aside and grabbed the great-sword with both hands, an aura of Dark surrounding him menacingly. With a snarl, Artorias shot forward and spun violently, sword whistling as it smashed into my shield and tossed me aside like a rag-doll.

I rolled in the snow, staggering to my feet with my shield as a sort of crutch, in spite my numb arm, and looking over at Ozpin. The two were moving at speed, though Artorias was easily pushing him back, and Ozpin rolled away from a strike, sword embedded in Artorias' gut painfully, and pulling his handgun. The rounds cracked into the air, and deflected off the Dark user's armor uselessly.

I grunted, standing and starting towards the fighting duo but stopped after taking a step as the familiar coolness of the Dark Seeker's presence in my mind," I sense another's presence, in the forest that your little friend ran into. They too are enslaving the Dark to their whim, and I sense vile intent from them. I would gladly offer my strength once more, if you require it."

'And what would you require in return?' I thought anxiously, watching Ozpin continue trying to evade Artorias and moving towards him quickly.

"I ask for nothing this time, I simply ask you to destroy these two without mercy. The Dark will NOT be enslaved and treated as some attack dog." I hesitated a moment, stopping in the snow and thinking before I jerked my head towards the forest's edge where the soldiers had retreated, hearing scattered gunshots and explosions.

Decision made, I allowed the Dark to once more flow and slither around me, mending my wounds and strengthening me as I charged forward, slamming shield first into Artorias' side and tossing him away from the downed Ozpin who looked up at me forlornly, hauling himself to his feet.

"I had hoped you'd not need to use that wretched power, but I suppose that it cannot be helped." I nodded, handing him my straight-sword and gesturing at the forest.

"Go, help them. I don't know who is there, only that they are a Dark user as well. I will contend with Artorias as quickly as I may and join you." Ozpin nodded and took the sword, rolling his shoulders.

"I'll take care of Ruby, Zanmei, you just kill that bastard." I nodded again, and watched him run off before turning and watching Artorias wrench Ozpin's blade from his gut, tossing it aside into the snow and staining it red before he growled loudly and sprinted at me with his sword raised high overhead.

I smiled thinly, taking the heavy strike on my shield easily and smashing the pommel of my own sword into his chest before following the strike through, swinging horizontally from my left side and barely missing as he leapt away, snarling viciously. I rolled my arm relaxedly, following him quickly and smashing my sword into the ground after him, barely missing, before he rolled away and swung the emerald sword in the open air.

The reason for this became apparent quickly, an arc of green light shooting through the open air and my eyes widened, shield instinctively locking into place in and taking the brunt of the damages. Even so, the attack seared across my arm and torso and I felt myself half-shout in pain and sank to my knees behind my shield as another, equally damaging, attacks slammed into me and tossed me back, sprawling in the snow once again and stunning me.

I blinked hazily, seeing Artorias towering above me with his sword raised for the killing blow that would take my head. As he swung downward, a single gunshot sounded across the field and the Artorias staggered back, clutching at his throat pitifully. I looked back towards the forest, seeing Crescent Rose smoking at the tree-line and smiled before rolling over and leaping to my feet, aiming another horizontal strike at the wounded Artorias who back-stepped easily, Dark aura quickly sending souls into his wound and healing it before he lunged toward me, slashing across my shield.

He released his sword with his off hand, fist flashing forward and colliding with my helmet harshly. As I staggered back, I saw him grip his sword tightly, swing it downward and sending another arc of power smashing across my open chest, marring the chest plates and cracking several of my ribs as I staggered backwards.

Ruby fired a trio of her armor piercing rounds, forcing Artorias away as I sank to my knees and struggled to breathe before Artorias grabbed his sword and started to end another blast from his sword, this time directed at Ruby. I growled, stepping between the two painfully and attempting to block the attack with my shield and sword, the former laid across the latter.

I sank to my knees in pain, my armor having been heated by the blasts to the point of searing the flesh below and the force having cracked bones easily. That same heat and force had done the unthinkable, and I winced as I raised the broken half of my once beautiful great-sword, the weapon having melted and collapsed liquidly.

Artorias was breathing heavily as he approached me, staggering slightly and shouldering his massive weapon before another flurry of bullets crashed into his chest and he sank to his knees, blood leaking from a few holes in his chest-plate and a trickle of it flowing from his throat. I forced myself to my feet, staggering towards him and brandishing my ruined sword in a vain threat.

I winced as a body slammed into me, toppling to my chest with a gasp of pain before looking over my shoulder at an unconscious Ozpin and pushing him off, forcing myself back to my feet as Ruby rolled across the ground next to me, groaning and holding her limp, obviously broken, arm. I growled, standing upright and turning around to stare at the new arrival.

Priscilla, wielding a long, simple ebony spear and wearing her beautiful dress stalked predatorily towards me, tail swishing violently in the snow behind her. She stopped several yards away, looking between me and Artorias for a moment," Artorias, I am surprised at your failing to defeat such simple opponents. You should have easily slaughtered them, yet instead I find you wounded and exhausted. No matter, our master has decided to spare them for now." Artorias snarled, but stepped away from the three of us all the same," I do not know why she has ordered such a thing, but we are only meant to follow, not question her decision to spare this sinner. Now let us leave, but first let us dispose of the unneeded one." I raised my shield, intent on warding her away from Ruby as I assumed she was the one being referred to.

Instead, she leapt forward and stabbed behind me, a wet squelching sound echoing quietly before she yanked her spear back and pummeled me with a back-hand. Staggering to the side, I looked down at Ruby and saw her unharmed before looking at Ozpin, whose once pristine clothing was now blooming red from the clear wound in his chest. Immediately, I shot forward with the intent to try and staunch the wound, but Priscilla clubbed me across the jaw with her spear and I toppled to the side as my world went dark.


	35. Raw Wounds : Part V : Fresh Aches

**(A/N: So, for speed's sake, I am making this chapter extra-long. Hop you guys enjoy it.)**

((Atlas))

(Zanmei Taiyang, First Person)

I groaned, blinking awake and rolling onto my stomach tiredly before staggering to my feet and looking off to my right where Ruby was laying. I took a short step towards her before wincing and clutching my leg, collapsing to my side heavily and screaming soundlessly as the metal pressed against my burned body. I took several heavy, laborious breaths and funneled a mass of my souls across my body to heal the cracked and stressed bones, and my burnt and bruised flesh. After about ten minutes of lying in the snow, feeling my reserves of souls start to finally dip dangerously near the red, I could finally move, even if it was incredibly painful to do so.

As the last vestiges of my healing began to take place, Ruby limped into view and dropped to her knees beside my right shoulder, cradling her arm limply and looking down at me worriedly. Touching a hand to my talisman, I reached over and gently touched her knee as a simple healing miracle crackled across my skin painfully, the inherent side effect of having used the Dark such a short time ago making miracles like this one painful to use.

Ruby winced, hissing painfully as her bones were forcibly set and mended inside her arm before hesitantly moving her arm around, gently testing the muscles and bones before nodding in mid satisfaction, looking down at me," Thanks, Zan. How bad were you hurt?"

I grunted, gesturing at my torso dismissively and wincing as I sat up and started signing," Broken ribs, burns, bruises. Healed the worst of them, but I need time to heal fully. Too low on souls to risk healing further. Where is Ozpin?"

I reached up, removing my helmet and watched the girl look around for a moment. It had started to snow while we'd been incapacitated, and I could tell from the darkened sky that several hours had passed at least. "Zan, I see him…" Ruby hopped up, flashing several yards away and dropping to her hands and knees to look down at the ground. "Zan, get over here now!"

Startled, I forced myself to my feet and half limped, half jogged through the ankle-deep snow to her side, kneeling beside Ozpin. He rolled his head weakly to look up at us and Ruby leaned over his bloodied chest, the snow around him tinted a light red that contrasted with the dark crimson staining his chest in a somewhat beautiful, if morbid at the same time, manner. I blinked, watching Ruby remove his helmet and set it beside him before sitting back.

He smiled thinly, looking up at me and raising his right arm in a small wave," Hey, brother. Was starting to get worried you wouldn't get finished with your nap in time." He laughed weakly, leaning his head back and looking up into the sky," Ah, I suppose it was too much to hope to see the Sun once more before the end, eh?"

"What are you talking about? I thought you guys were Undead! That you couldn't die?" I rested a hand on Ruby's shoulder, and she looked back at me with wide, frightened eyes and I shook my head.

"An Undead is indeed immortal, so long as they don't encounter certain things," he shook his head, wincing when Ruby leaned over and started trying to staunch the bleeding," Relax, Ruby. I'm already bleeding out, and I can't funnel any souls into healing the wound, and I can feel my Humanity evaporating… I don't know what manner of sorceries that half-breed monstrosity used to craft her weapon, but it seems tailor made to-"

He cut off mid-sentence, coughing violently and Ruby seemed to freak out further, eyes widening fearfully and hands covering her mouth. Then I remembered, she'd never actually sat and watched a person dying like this before. She looked at me desperately," Zan, what do we do?"

I sighed tiredly, signing at her slowly," Nothing we can do now, except sit with him and wait until it is over."

"Zan, I can't hollow out. You understand, right? I can't do that to Glynda, she… she mustn't see me like that." I nodded evenly and he mirrored the gesture, though far more jerkily than mine and he looked beside him," Y-your sword is here, under the snow. And I'm wearing a Lloyds' Talisman, you know what I need you to do."

"N-no! You can't ask Zan to kill you! He's your friend, he shouldn't have to do this again." She stood up beside me, grabbing my head and hugging it against her chest awkwardly," You don't need to do this again."

"It has to happen, Miss Rose. If he doesn't put me down while I'm still sane, he'll have to fight me when I revive. He'll have to kill me as a monster, instead of letting me die as a man like I want." I reached up, gently pushing Ruby off of me and nodding up at her to confirm Ozpin's words and she teared up, stepping back a bit to give me room. I dug the sword out of the snow, and reached up to grab the small talisman from around his neck, laying it on his chest and smashing it with the pommel of my straight-sword.

"Zan, remember. The Dark will poison you, slowly and surely, if you let it. You need something, somewhere, tan anchor yourself and maintain your sanity. Whatever you do, don't you ever let her go. You understand?" I nodded and quickly, cleanly removed his head from his shoulders.

I stood over the fresh corpse of my long-time companion and brother in all but blood for several moments, until Ruby stepped up next to me and touched my arm hesitantly, saying something I couldn't quite make out. I sank slowly to my knees, closing my eyes tightly and resting back on my haunches depressedly, simply wanting to sit in the snow and freeze for a while.

Eventually, Ruby shook me back to the present and I turned to her, standing there and holding her arms while she shivered violently," Z-zan, it's getting p-pretty bad out here. Please, come into the Bullhead? I got a fire going; the engine's busted, so i-it's how we need to stay warm." I turned to look at her, regarding her silently from beneath my helmet and she bit her lip nervously," Please? I-I'm not going back inside until you do too, so unless you want me to freeze then you should really get up."

I grunted, and rose to my feet slowly, after sheathing my straight-sword on my hip as it usually stood and following her into the small air-craft. Once inside, I slipped my helmet off and dropped it on the floor callously, leaning my freshly scarred shield against the wall by the entrance and walking to the back of the Bullhead. Ruby had arranged the few crates in a pseudo-wall, a small fire on the right side of the craft. I stepped around the boxes, taking a seat in the corner on the opposite side and leaning my head back, against the cold steel.

Ruby sat on the other side, staring at me sadly, with Crescent Rose by her side. After a few minutes, she shuffled across the floor hesitantly, and I looked down at her evenly," Do you, uh, mind cuddling? I'm cold." I nodded, and she shuffled all the way and laid her head on my lap, covering up in the large red cloak she always wore and using her hood as a pillow. "Hey Zan?" I tapped her shoulder to let her know I was listening. "You know I forgive you for what happened with Weiss, right?" Another shoulder tap, relief seeping into my bones. A few minutes later, as she drifted off into sleep, I heard her quietly murmur," Love you, Zan."

I blinked, surprised for a moment, before I leaned back and allowed myself to drift off into actual sleep. A rough sleep, plagued by nightmares from Weiss' soul echoes. But I rarely allowed myself to sleep, and I need to rest and allow my body time to heal.

((Vale))

(Pyrrha Nikos, Beacon Bullhead Landing Pads, Third Person)

Pyrrha waited at the landing pad patiently, sitting on a small chair that Roman had 'volunteered' to bring down for me. After Yang had Neo threaten to hide all of his cigars, anyway. JNPER had gone out that morning, with Adam and a half dozen White fang soldiers as backup, to scout out the surrounding areas before more veteran Hunter teams went to clear out any nests or hordes that may have cropped up in the nearby forests, hopefully preventing another attack on Beacon.

She smiled when she saw, in the distance, a transport Bullhead steadily soaring towards the pad and stood up when it came in to land. A half-minute later, emergency medical teams rushed past her to the landed ship as the twin doors slid open. They rushed two White Fang soldiers and Nora away, the latter seeming to be in shock after her first attempt at a mission and the former two sporting grievous injuries. Elesis limped out of the Bullhead, supported by a medic, and Ren dropped out of the Bullhead tiredly and followed the medical teams back into Beacon.

Adam, the only one still there, turned to regard Pyrrha with the almost ever-present scowl on his face and sighed, knowing her question," Where is Jaune? Is he okay?"

"He's dead. We were ambushed by hundreds of Stalkers out there, by the time anyone knew what was happening we were swamped on all sides. That boy saved my men's lives.'' He grunted impolitely when Pyrrha's face fell, tears already welling up in her eyes," I saw him go down. If it means anything, he saved everyone who got out of that's lives."

"A-and you know he's dead? You're sure?" Adam sighed, stepping past the distraught woman and walking away before looking back over his shoulder.

"I saw one of those monsters take his shield-arm, and then he went down. No chance he survived the horde that was converging on him." He winced when she sank to her knees in shock, and walked away before the tears started to fall. "Poor kids…."

Elesis found her still sitting there several hours later, eyes dead and face tear-stained, and led her back to their room.


	36. Raw Wounds : Part VI : Lost or Not?

**((Vale))**

(Glynda Goodwitch, Third Person)

Glynda was tired. She'd already grown weary of leading the Academy by herself, especially as she seemed to send condolence letters more than absolutely anything else since Ozpin left. Every day, she'd receive reports of missions and operations based out of Beacon's facilities. And every day, she sent the letter every person in Vale feared receiving. A notification of death of a family member on a mission, and today she'd sent off another for one of her own students. After yesterday's failed mission, she'd sent out Coco Adel and Velvet Scarlatina with a dozen White fang soldiers and Adam Taurus to ascertain if Jaune Arc had actually died and, if possible, recover the body.

The only thing they had found, scattered amongst the left-over Grimm plates and debris from the trees, was his arm, ruined shield still affixed to it. At Glynda's discretion, the arm had been quietly disposed of. But the shield had been given to Miss Nikos, who was put on a Bullhead into Vale City to return it to his family. As it stood though, there wasn't enough time to dedicate ceremonies to individual people as the fighting escalated across Atlas and now in Vacuo as well, and the death tolls started to rise.

Worriedly, she picked up her private Scroll again and checked her inbox for messages. Ozpin had been supposed to message last night, after arriving at his ordered location in Atlas. But as of yet, she'd received nothing from him or anyone else about him. She'd messaged Zanmei as well, several times in fact, in the hopes of finding something out but he wasn't answering either.

Sliding the next stack of condolence letters and after-action reports in front of her to get to work, she shook off her doubt. Zanmei and Ozpin alone could handle themselves perfectly fine, she didn't have anything to worry about. Ozpin had never in his life failed to meet a promise to her, and she knew he wouldn't break his promise to return now. He was, after all, a man of his word.

(Tom and Blue, Emerald Forest, Third Person)

"Beowolf behind you, three feet back," Tom grunted and flicked his wrist up into the air before snapping his finger and activating his semblance, teleporting the small knife into the charging Grimm's brain and smiling thinly before turning and pulling the small, guard-less knife from the beasts skull and wiping it on its fur.

"Thanks for the heads up, Blue. Got anymore nearby, or we good to take a break for a while?" They were on the outskirts of the forest, clearing out smaller groups and planting small cameras along the edge, hidden in the trees mainly, to watch for threats.

"None near us, we can break for a bit." He looked up, watching Blue glide down and land somewhat tiredly, sinking to her knees. She was currently carrying her weapon in its folded up form looking like a Claymore and standing at about a half-foot above her head. Tom had helped her make the weapon several years back, thinking she would grow to fit it better.

She really, really hadn't, and it was mainly because of the calorie drain that she was so thin. When you looked at her, she almost looked half-starved with her bones showing in most places if her skin was visible, which it tended not to be in her baggy clothing.

"Catch," he muttered, tossing a small bar of protein, typically rationed to soldiers, to her which she deftly caught and tore into greedily. "Will that much food keep you taken care of for the mission? We still have half a circuit to run and if we find anymore Nevermores, you'll have to use your semblance to keep up with them and kill them."

"I'm okay for now, and I didn't see any Nevermores while I was in the air. If they show up, I'll use my windmill scythe to propel myself." She flexed her arm, holding her weapon in front of her and unfolding it.

Unfurled, it was nearly twice her size and looked like two scythes around a grip with a circular guard that the blades could spin around when she pressed a button located on the inside of the handle. A small, thin wire linked it to her arm and, when spinning and thrown, she could let the wire inside the handle extend so as to facilitate a quick retrieval, if she used her control over wind to steer the blade. Normally, the weapon would be much too heavy for anyone her size to wield but after several years of working on her strength she could wield it by using her control over air to help swing it. He had suggested a half dozen times that she simply get a new, smaller weapon to use. She had, each time, politely told him to blow it out his ass and, after he gave up, they'd continued on with whatever task they had.

"If you say so, but remember to keep within my sphere of control." Tom's semblance allowed him to teleport inanimate objects within two hundred feet in any given direction, though they couldn't be retrieved if they had any blood on them and only the force that had already been applied to direct them could be used to direct them. This meant that he had to throw a knife to get any speed or force when it teleported, though that still tended to catch opponents entirely off-guard.

"I will." He nodded approvingly, tossing her the uneaten half of his ration and smiling when she shoveled it down hungrily.

"The let's get back to it, we need to finish the circuit and get back to beacon." She nodded at him and, using her semblance to propel herself, shot up into the air to scout for him. She could spot targets, and his knives would end them. He smiled to himself, and continued on his way merrily.

(Adam Taurus and Elesis Sieghart, Beacon Dorms, Third Person)

"Hold still, you damn sissy." Adam grunted, gripping the table tightly as Elesis pulled the needle through his skin," You could have avoided this if you'd just let the damn doctors patch you up like everyone else."

"I don't like doctors, Elesis, and you know that." She 'hmm'ed' behind him and pulled the needle through the last bit of his gash, finishing the stitches.

"Well, next time you should watch out." She sat back, wiping her hands off on a small black cloth. He'd gotten a rather nasty gash across his back and, refusing to see actual doctors for it, Elesis had gotten stuck patching him up. "I might not be around to do it next time, you know."

"I'll be sure to tell the Grimm that the next time one tries to eat me then, maybe they'll be polite and back off." Elesis raised an eyebrow at him and he smirked so, being the loving and kind mate she is, Elesis reached over and gave him a nice, hard pat on the back. "Ack! That hurts, Elesis!"

"As does your attempt at being a smart ass, Adam. Now, lay down on your stomach and rest up or next time we go into Vale, YOU are taking me dress shopping." Adam grunted, shaking his head, and laid out on the bed while Elesis tossed his shirt and jacket into a small hamper. After she'd finished putting away the dirty clothes and her first aid kit, she turned back to him," Hungry? I'm headed to grab some grub."

"Grab me something then." She nodded, and walked out the door of Adam's dorm to get their food and, after she'd left, Adam rolled over and turned on the television before rolling back over and listening to it drone on," Could have at least turned on the t.v. for me."

(Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren, JNPER Dorm, Third Person)

Ren walked into the dorm, noting sadly the empty bunk that had once belonged to Jaune before walking over to where Nora was sitting on her own bed, knees tucked up against her chest tightly. "Hey, Nora."

"Hi, Ren. What'd you get us to eat?" Ren smiled thinly, setting the burgers down on the table next to her.

"Burgers. How are you feeling?" He sighed when she glared at him and sat down beside her," I don't care what you say, it isn't your fault."

"We got attacked and I shut down, Ren. Again. And Jaune is dead now because of it. How is that not my fault?" Ren sighed again, leaning back against the wall beside her and grabbing a burger.

"Several reasons. One, you didn't know that they were there, nor were you cleared for heavy combat duties. Two, the Grimm we were fighting were rare and specialized in ambush tactics, so there was no way to see it coming. And three, Jaune ordered the retreat and then got cut off." Ren chuckled quietly, watching Nora glare at him and held a burger out to her.

"I... guess you're right, Ren. But…. I can't be a Huntress anymore. I'm done with all of this, I just can't keep having this happen." Ren nodded quietly, calmly eating his burger. Truthfully, he was going to suggest this course of action himself if she didn't.

"I understand, Nora. I think it might be best for you to get out of this career field too, frankly. I don't like seeing you get hurt and, honestly, I'm on the verge of quitting too. Before one of us dies out there." Nora blinked in surprise at him, smiling ever so slightly.

"So… You aren't even upset? I thought you wanted to be a Hunter?" Ren nodded, smiling back at her warmly.

"I do, but I want to be with you more than that, Nora. Being a Huntsmen would have been nice, yes, but I don't need it to be happy." Nora smiled at him, setting her half-eaten burger on the small table beside her bed.

"So, you'll quit with me?" He nodded quietly and she smiled again, wider this time.

"But I have a condition for it, and it's non-negotiable." She blinked at him, surprised for a moment and he smiled brightly. "I'd only ever give up being a Hunter for my girlfriend, so there's a slight issue here."

"You mean you and me-"

"I'll quit, if we're together-together. Deal?" He offered her a hand to shake and she looked at it, then back up at him before doing something only Nora would do and leaping p off the bed and tackling him to the floor. Ren for his part was simply happy he'd locked the door before he sat down.

(Yang Xiao Long and Neapolitan, Former RWBY Dorm, Third Person)

Yang sighed comfortably, rubbing small circles on the smaller girl's bare shoulders and listening to her breath as she turned and looked up at her before she smiled," You know, I think it's kind of odd that we got together because you kicked my ass one time."

Neo simply shrugged, turning her head and snuggling into the larger girl's bust. After their surprise developments, Roman had kicked her out of his room to 'avoid getting his teeth knocked out for coming in to get some socks' or something and Yang had moved Neo into her dorm. Since then, Yang's mood had improved significantly thanks to the smaller girl's presence and they'd quickly gotten closer and closer over the night, until now.

"So, I kind of feel bad for taking out all my issues on you all the time," The smaller girl merely waved her off, snuggling up and giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Not like I don't give as good as I take, right?" Neo nodded quickly and smiled up at her from between her breasts and Yang sighed," Admit it you just use me as a space heater." The girl rolled her eyes and curled back up to go to sleep under the blanket with her lover.

"Don't give me the silent treatment, Ice Cream Cone."

(Pyrrha Nikos, Vale City, Third Person)

Pyrrha sighed sadly, lifting the shattered shield up in her hands and knocking on the door to the mid-sized apartment that Jaune's family lived in. A moment later, a young girl, maybe twelve years old or so, opened it and she introduced herself and asked to speak to her mother.

A minute later, a bright looking young woman came to the door and opened her mouth to say hello before her eyes locked onto the battered and bloody shield in her hands and widened in horror, looking up at Pyrrha," No, please. Please no."

"I-I'm sorry, ma'am, but Jaune… He…. They were on patrol and his team was ambushed. He… He saved them all, held back dozens of Grimm while his team retreated but he didn't make it." The woman nodded, taking a deep, steadying breath, and reached out for the shield.

"That's at least an honorable death. His father would be proud, I suppose." Pyrrha nodded slightly, feeling the tears start to well up," Did you know him?"

"We, uh, we were dating-"

"You're Pyrrha? Jaune told us about you. You were supposed to come meet everyone this weekend to see your room." Pyrrha nodded and the woman's grief seemed to vanish, buried under a faux exuberance at meeting Jaune's girlfriend finally.

"Yes, I was. But I'll understand if you don't want me to come and stay anymore." The woman laughed loudly, grabbing her shoulder and hugging her, leading her into the house.

"Oh, you hush! Jaune would hate us if we turned you out now, with nowhere to go. He told us everything, so here's your room…" The day shot by for Pyrrha rather quickly, meeting Jaune's family and getting settled into her new life there with them, having decided to never again return to Beacon if she didn't need to.

(Jaune Arc, Un-known Location, Third Person)

Jaune groaned, rolling over and looking around. Silently, he wondered how he was still breathing and, looking at his surroundings, began to wonder where he actually was. "Uh, Ren? Nora? Anyone?"

He stumbled upright, bare chested and chilled, and reached up to rub the stump where his shield arm had once been attached to his torso and winced, remembering the pain of losing it and started to walk up the incline of the cave towards the sunlight he could just barely see. Once he reached the exit he jumped in surprise, and the knight turned slowly to look at him, long, dirty plume waving behind him.

"Uh, hi! Do you know where my team is? Or, uh, where we are?" The knight regarded him silently for a moment, before pointing behind him. Jaune turned and looked up, seeing a large, beautiful woman sitting on a rock above the entrance to the cave.

"We are near the realm you call Atlas, boy. As for your team, they left you to die." Jaune swallowed forcefully, glaring up at the woman fiercely.

"I ordered them away, ma'am, they didn't abandon me. Don't try and warp what happened." The woman seemed to regard him for a moment, before she smiled widely.

"I see now what our mistress saw in you, to have the Grimm bring you here like this and save your life. I had almost started to doubt her, but you just proved yourself to me." She dropped from the rick, landing elegantly in front of him," Very well then, my name is Priscilla. That is my partner, Artorias of the Abyss."

"Uh, my name is Jaune. Nice to meet you? Anyway, I need to get back to Beacon, do you know where my stuff is?" The woman smiled lightly, sitting beside Artorias and curling her tail around her legs comfortably.

"You do not quite understand what has happened, do you?" He blinked, shaking his head, and she laughed lightly," You died, little knight, and the goddess brought you back to life. You no longer serve your pathetic human masters. Now, you serve her as an Undead." She smiled cruelly at him and he blinked in surprise," And the goddess of Sin has many plans for you, so I advise you bend the knee and obey."

**((Atlas))**

(Zanmei Taiyang, Atlas Military Operations Base in Atlas City, First Person)

Ironwood frowned, looking at the two people standing in front of him," So, Ozpin is dead, as is the entire unit you were to be stationed with?" We nodded quietly, and Ironwood's face fell," Dust damn it all to hell!"

"We're sorry, sir, but there wasn't much we could do. There were just too many Grimm, we were overwhelmed completely." Ironwood nodded, leaning back in his seat and sighing.

"I understand, it's alright. I just…. I have to tell Glynda about this, you understand?" We nodded again, Ruby sighing ever so lightly. She hated having to lie about what had happened, but they had decided it wasn't a good idea to tell Ironwood about the Undead as of yet unless he needed to know. The secret was far too large for them to toss about all willy nilly with no regard to what was going on, and Ironwood had more than enough on his plate as is.

"Sir, do we have any more orders?" The man shook his head again and I quirked an eyebrow.

"Just rest up, I'll see if there's a job I can assign to you two or if there's a unit to transfer you too. Until then, you're on leave here in Atlas. Dismissed." We turned, striding from the tent quickly and I breathed a sigh of relief when we had left.

"So, uh, Zanmei?" I turned to Ruby and she pointed up at the city behind me," We're in Atlas. Weiss' dad lives here, and he caused Weiss to die. Should we…."

"I will find him and kill him tomorrow, if you want me to." The girl smiled slightly and walked past me, up the rather empty street and I followed quietly.

"So, Zan, let's find a hotel to sleep in." I nodded, leaving my offer unanswered by the girl and not questioning it as I walked behind her as quietly as a large man coated in metal could do. Eventually, we found a small-ish hotel in the city and paid for a room for a few days and walked into the moderately sized room.

We rapidly dropped our armor into small piles in a corner before falling into our own beds ad passing out, having been tired out from the walk to the nearest Atlesian unit and the walk in search of the hotel. Frankly, I was just happy to have a damned bed to sleep on.


	37. Raw Wounds : Part VII : Revenge

**((Vale))**

(Glynda Goodwitch, Headmaster's Office, Third person)

Glynda scowled heavily, looking over the scout reports she'd received from Tom and Blue, among other teams. She'd lost several such teams, but enough had come back from scouting out towards the northern wilds to pain a very disturbing picture.

The wilds were teaming with Grimm of every sort, though they as of yet seemed to be lacking the cohesion the Grimm forces in Atlesian and Vacuo lands had the numbers were still heavily and rapidly increasing. As it stood, they were approaching Incursion levels even now and the Valean Council was sending units through Beacon and on to the affected areas to start purging the Grimm there in large numbers. She'd also been ordered to send most of the Huntsmen teams and approximately a third of her Mechanized Defense Units along with them to bolster the chances the fighters would have of succeeding.

Atlas was also loaning several of their destroyers and General Ironwood himself was leading his flagship to assist in the purging, as they simply could not afford to have an Incursion occurring in Vale as well, meaning the Vale aid would have to return to their own kingdom and leave Atlas to its own devices.

She looked up quietly when her next appointment arrived, watching Miss Valkyrie and Mister Lie Ren walk into the office quietly and take a seat across the desk from her and took a moment to compose herself," I understand you both are withdrawing from our academy?"

"Yes ma'am, Nora and I just…. We can't do this anymore. One of these days, we're going to go out on a mission and someone won't come back and, call it selfish if you so desire, but I can't get through that nor can I put Nora through it." Glynda nodded quietly, looking at Ren with calculating eyes. "We are sorry, however, ma'am."

"Don't be. I understand and respect your decision, I merely wished to speak to you about a few things before I finalized your withdrawal and you left. To make absolutely certain that you do, in fact, wish to withdraw permanently." She took a moment, sliding a piece of paper to er and picking up a pen," Now then, do you understand that you will NOT be receiving your tuitions back, nor can you re-enroll without paying it again?"

"Yes ma'am, though we were hoping you could lend us some cash to get a Bullhead back to Vale?" Nora spoke hesitantly and meekly, and Ren absently took her hand to calm her ad started rubbing small circles on the back of it with his thumb.

"I can easily arrange you a ride, Miss Valkyrie. You needn't concern yourself with that, it's the least I can do." She smiled lightly at the minute display of affection before coughing lightly and looking back down on the page," Now, do you understand that should you choose to pursue a career in Hunting by reenrolling here or at another Academy, this will be a black mark on your career?"

"Yes ma'am, but I doubt that'll be a problem for us." She nodded at Ren and, after another few questions to make certain they were sure of their decision, she nodded one last time.

"Thank you both, for everything. I know you've had some hardships, and I wish you both the best of luck I the future. You're dismissed." The two young students nodded at her and walked out of the room, having permanently decided the course for their lives. Joining the Academy for the first time was easy, as was leaving. Rejoining, however, was nearly impossible as no one wanted any Hunters protecting them who were known to have quit. Once they were gone, she turned to her personal Scroll and checked for any incoming messages once again, quickly sending out a few orders to get the Hunters needed for the upcoming operations ready.

And she saw just one, from Ironwood which puzzled her as he rarely ever messaged her. She got a strange sense of foreboding as she raised a finger to the small envelope icon, but pushed it aside and opened it. Inside was a short letter detailing the events which had transpired, and Ozpin's death. Glynda, to her credit, kept her composure nicely and stood up, straightening the desk and walking out of the office.

She ignored everyone and anyone she passed, regardless of whom they were or what they said, instead walking briskly to Ozpin's apartment. When she got there, she wandered into the bedroom and curled up on the soft mattress. She never cried, nor screamed, instead simply lying in the medium sized bed quietly.

(Yang Xiao Long and Neapolitan, Beacon Library, Third Person)

Neo shook her head again, repeating the sign slowly and watching Yang flip through several pages in the large book on sign-language before settling on one and smiling," You're saying 'tree'?"

Neo smiled widely, nodding happily before writing on the small sketch-pad she'd brought with them to the library," Good job. You're learning really quickly." Yang read the note, smiling cockily and stretching languidly on the chair.

"Yeah, I'm awesome. So when do I get my prize?" Neo chuckled at her, pulling the sketch-pad back across the table quickly.

"You only got one answer right, Yang, you don't get a prize." She laughed quietly when Yang huffed at her, pouting adorably. "Okay, MAYBE you can have a prize later tonight."

"Yes! Knew you couldn't resists having a-" Neo leaned over the table, clamping a hand over the girl's mouth and the larger girl laughed behind the petite hand, Neo pouting at her as she receded. "No more puns?"

"You can have bad puns, or sex. Pick." Neo chuckled, both eyes flashing to pink and emboldening her a bit and making her control slip.

"Aw, but how EVER will I survive without getting to eat my delicious ice cream cone?" Neo face palmed at the incredibly stupid pun, before reaching over and bopping the taller woman on the forehead. "Hey now, keep it up and I won't do that thing with my-" Neo leapt across the table, tackling her with a clattering sound of chairs and covering her mouth with an ever so faint blush. The larger girl easily overpowered the smaller, throwing the squirming girl over her shoulder and grabbing the books off the table," Now let's go, I'm having a craving for sweets."

(Roman Torchwick, Adam Taurus and Elesis Sieghart, Beacon Cafeteria, Third Person)

Roman groaned, flipping through to a new page and continuing to review, over and over, the Fang's finances. With Cinder's death and the Fang's radical upheaval and move to Beacon, Roman's initial financial plan was more shot to hell than, well, Cinder was. Roman chuckled quietly at his own internal quip, shaking his head lightly and looking over at Adam.

The young man was sitting at the table across from him, slowly disassembling his rifle and closely examining each intricate piece and part of it, cleaning most and returning them to their places and occasionally replacing a pin and tossing the broken or damaged component into a small bin at his side. Elesis was beside him, slowly sharpening her own sword to a keen, razor's edge. Roman merely watched them for several minutes, each focused intently on their own weapons and almost completely unaware of v\everything around them.

"So," Roman said, bored to the point of finally being the one to break the awkward silence," What's got you two so busy getting your weapons together?"

"We're being sent up north with the Vale military to help clean it out a bit, the Grimm up there are getting way out of hand. So, we're being sent up with a lot of the Fang's soldiers to help fight them off and thin them out a bit." Roman nodded at Elesis, who quickly looked back down at her sword and returned to her work and Adam merely grunted in agreement with her statement.

"Well, you two best take care out there. I am NOT running this group all by my lonesome. That is SIMPLY too much effort and there is just not enough gain to make it worthwhile." Roman shrugged widely, smiling that cocky smile of his with his hands in the air at his sides," Can't be helped, so you'd both best come back."

"I've no intention on dying, Roman," Adam growled lowly, finally piecing the weapon together fully and setting it beside him before pulling the blade around and checking it for damages and sharpness.

"Don't worry so much, Roman. We won't die if we can help it." Elesis took a moment to look up at the man and smiled slightly," And you don't have to pretend not to care, we know you're worried about us." Roman guffawed lightly, turning in his seat and resuming working on his management jobs, checking and rechecking his numbers quickly and quietly.

He hated smartasses, which was why he and Neo had gotten on so well.

(Penny, Velvet Scarlatina, Cardin Winchester and Coco Adel, Beacon Gym, Third Person)

Penny and Velvet were sitting quietly, watching their new team-mates sparring on the large mat in the training gyms. They'd been told the day before that they were, indeed, being grouped up as a team in lieu of their substantial losses. Penny had been transferred to Beacon by Ironwood to substantiate their team, though Penny was more than aware that he had also done it for her. Cardin had been partnered with Coco and Velvet had been partnered with Penn, both decided by Ozpin before he had departed. Both pairs couldn't have been happier with the decisions and they all suspected that had been a motivating factor behind the decisions.

Velvet continued to hum quietly, sitting behind Penny and brushing her hair before she saw a weakness in Cardin's fighting style," Cardin, you favor your left leg too much."

In a flash, Coco shot her leg forward and linked it behind his, pulling him off balance and tossing him to the ground. The man rolled over, hopping up and glaring lightly at the smaller girl," The hell, Velvet? You gave her the win!"

"No, your opening in your defense gave her the win. Velvet merely assisted her team leader in finding and exploiting the opening, thus allowing her to win and you to see your weakness." Velvet patted Penny's shoulder thankfully and smiled, while Cardin merely scowled lightly and rolled his shoulders.

"Fine. Yeah. Let's go again." Coco nodded, cracking her neck, and they proceeded to continue sparring. Eventually, a few hours later, velvet and Penny departed early to return to their room, saying they were tired and wished to sleep. The other couple knew that there was zero chance they would be sleeping so early, but elected to say nothing.

After all, those two wouldn't comment when they both took a shower at the same time later. And fair was fair.

(Jaune Arc, Northern Vale Continental Coast, Third person)

Jaune was sitting on a rock beside Artorias, merely watching the clouds drift by. He'd had everything explained to him by Priscilla, and she had made him an offer in exchange for his services. If he helped them kill Zanmei and cripple Vacuo, then the goddess of Sin Velka would spare Vale, if not Beacon, and go out of her way to protect Pyrrha from any harm, as well as Nora and Ren.

He had at first wanted to resist, but he'd been told that his Darksign was unsealed and Velka needed time to prep a sealing method for him and, in that time, he had learned why these people wished death on Zanmei so passionately and found himself agreeing. Zanmei had lived a long, long time apparently, and had destroyed Priscilla's home for no reason, and made Artorias' attempt to save the world a waste. So now, in exchange for saving his friends, he had agreed to help Velka get justice.

He couldn't have possibly known that they were't telling him everything, nor could he have resisted Velka's Dark influencing his decisions.

**((Atlas))**

(Zanmei Taiyang and Ruby Rose, Atlas Market District, First Person)

"How about this one?" I turned around in the weapon shop, looking over at Ruby who was pointing at a large, wide-bladed sword that was around five feet long and a half foot wide. But I shook my head, looking at the handle. The wood's quality was lack-luster where it was attached to the guard, and he didn't want it to break off mid-combat. It was the fifth such weapon he had seen and rejected and Ruby sighed lightly, turning to the shop-keeper.

"Sir? Could you show us your best great-swords? Preferably non-shifting ones?" The man, surprised at the small girl's request, blinked a couple times before complying quietly and heading to the back of the store.

A few minutes later, he came out with a trolley carrying three large swords.

" This is all I have, Atlesian Hunters and soldiers don't really like this kinda sword." I nodded, checking over them. The first two were no good, one was made of shoddy metal and the other was too short for me to use.

The third largely resembled my own sword, save for the color being snowy white with a decorative red line shooting down the center and a blade that was ever so slightly wider and thicker than my own original blade. I tested the weight of it for a moment, feeling the mass and heft of the blade for a moment before looking at Ruby and nodding.

She smiled brightly, turning back to the man," We'll take that one, please!" The man nodded easily, taking her Hunter I.D. and scanning it quickly, before accepting the forty-thousand liens to pay for it and bidding us goodbye.

Within half an hour, we were sitting inside a small café to get out of the cold of the Atlesian weather. Ruby herself had kept her armor on, at my request and due to our later prospects, and pulled her cloak around her. I just ignored the cold for the most part, the cloth inside my armor keeping me well-warmed and sheltered from the wind and snow.

"So, you about ready to head out?" I looked at Ruby's grim, straight face silently, regarding her in my mind. She'd approached me last night with her request, and I had at first been dead set against it. But she had convinced me of it, and though I knew it would taint her the anger at not following through with it would almost doubtlessly cause more damages and faster.

So, I turned and looked outside at the darkened sky and then checked a clock on the café's wall. It was around seven in the evening so I nodded, so I nodded and we paid for our food before we turned and walked out of the building. The snow had picked up quite a bit, a common occurrence I had been told, and we started our short walk deeper into the city. Soon enough, we spotted our destination's gates down the long avenue.

The Schnee Manor was a large, well-fortified building, usually staffed with Atlesian military units and mechanized infantry to protect the family from harm, which had thus far thwarted almost every group from even thinking about attacking it. But with the Incursions so close to the city, the staff had been moved to the front line and only personal guards and mechs were protecting the manner.

I looked around at the smaller buildings, the Schnees refusing to tolerate large buildings near their manor for security purposes, and pointed at an abandoned store, signing too Ruby," In there, find a good spot to set up with your rifle. Don't interfere unless you absolutely need to."

"Got it!" She ran off, pushing open the door and sliding into the old building. We'd managed to find out what kind of guards the Schnees had hired, and I was perfectly comfortable with killing people like them. They were the sort to happily kill children and innocent civilians for a few extra liens, so killing them was a service to the planet in my eyes.

Hoisting my new sword to my shoulder, I walked down the open street quickly. The two guards at the gate watched me approach, one cockily approaching me with his assault rifle hanging lazily at his side. He opened his mouth to speak and I smiled, slamming my shield outward and to my left, the upper edge caving in his skull as the second guard raised his own rifle. I felt a blast of heat shoot past my head, and he collapsed with a cry of pain as Ruby's shot tore his arm from his shoulder and left him whimpering on the snowy floor. A flick of my new sword ended him as well, and I continued to the gate quietly.

I had forbidden Ruby to kill unless absolutely necessary, despite her assertions she could handle it. She had only agreed to that condition when I told her I wouldn't help her do this otherwise, a lie for sure but she had pouted and accepted it after that.

When I kicked open the front door, two guards fell to my blade with grunts of pain and arcs of gore, a third raising his revolver and firing ineffectively at me. A round from Ruby tore his left leg off and I lunged, slamming the blade through his chest and into the ground, killing him.

Eventually, after cutting down cores and scores of guards and mechs, I found the office, inside which was sitting Weiss' father and mother, reclining with two guards behind them holding rifles. The woman looked classically beautiful, pale skin and blue eyes with long, silky blonde hair, and the man looked like a barrel with legs and arms, with thick muscles and a clean-shaven, almost aristocratic face. He smiled almost cockily at me, brandishing a large, white mace, and when he spoke, his voice was almost sickeningly faux-sweet and as condescending as feasible.

"So, just a yes or no question here, as I would like to confirm this, are you a friend of my former daughter's?" I nodded, and he sneered at me quietly. "Shame, you're a rather good fighter it seems. A pity that you would fight for such scum as a Faunus lover like her."

I raised my shield, warding off the bursts of automatic fire that the two guards levied against me and pushed towards them as their two charges fled from the room, out onto the balcony. Two swings of my new sword ended the both of them, and I followed the pair out onto the large balcony where the two soon to be dead aristocratic bigots were standing, the woman hiding behind her husband. I tilted my head to the side and looked at them quietly from behind my helmet, smiling grimly as I stepped towards him.

He gave an angry cry and swung his mace at me, which I took across my chest uncaringly before simply kicking him off the roof, letting him fall, screaming pathetically, from his balcony. The woman was soon to follow, every bit as corrupt, vile and cruel as her husband judging from her soul's aura.

And, job done, I returned to Ruby and we made our way back to our hotel room. Hopefully, with the massive influx of foreign Huntsmen and soldiers, they'd be unable to figure out who had done the killing and, with the Incursion nearing the city, they wouldn't be able to dedicate the resources to a thorough investigation.

When we returned to the hotel room, Ruby opted to take a nice shower before bed and I stripped out of my armor and changed into my Beacon uniform, sincerely lacking anything else to wear, and started cleaning and maintaining the plates of my armor. The armor was as ancient as I was, and we were both scarred in equal measure to show it. Which was why I loved it so much, and I couldn't help the longing I felt for my sword.

A half hour later, Ruby came out of the bathroom," Don't turn around, I'm naked. Forgot my clothes, sorry." I raised a hand, single thumb indicating my understanding, and resumed working on my armor quietly. After a minute, I heard Ruby speak again, quietly, from just behind me," Hey, uh, Zan? You do love me too, right?" I gave her another thumb up, smiling and humming lightly as I polished my breast plate. "Then, I want to show you…" I blinked, and turned around just in time to get glomped.

Though, needless to say, the glomp was neither the most amusing nor interesting aspect of that particular night. Yet, in hindsight, it seemed a very Ruby-like thing to do.


	38. The Last Abomination Ends

(Elesis Sieghart and Adam Taurus, Northern Valean Wilderness, Third Person)

The transport Bullhead shuddered gently, shaking as it detached from the Atlesian carrier ship that had ferried the Valean and White Fang soldiers, as well as their Huntsmen and Mercenary counterparts, out to the area which needed to be purged of Grimm. Such operations were actually relatively common occurrences throughout Remnant, though usually in much smaller numbers and almost always only requiring military assets of a singular Kingdom in order to be accomplished. But with the recent Incursions into the Kingdoms, they couldn't sustain such major operations on their own.

Elesis and Adam had, of course, taken the lead on a Vanguard White Fang unit, consisting of tankier Faunus soldiers with heavier armor and weapons in order to lead the charge personally from the front, Adam's preferred methodology. As the small light in the cabin blinked twice, signaling a descent into combat, and the dull thrumming of the forward rotary cannons engaging sounded across the smallish hold, the soldiers all did a quick recheck of their weapons, including Adam and Elesis.

Wilt and Blush were in peak form, and Adam gave a quiet grunt of affirmation when Elesis looked at him in question. At her insistence, he had accepted some light armor in the form of a small black cuirass that covered his upper torso and a matching set of bracers and shin-guards, each extending slightly past their respective joints. Emblazoned on his chest-piece was the old symbol for the Fang, which was mirrored on the other members in the Bullhead.

Their new uniforms, much like the old, had a simplistic mask which concealed their entire faces, more out of tradition than necessity at this point save for the more notorious members of the Fang who, obviously, still needed to hide their identities. Each had the blue White Fang symbol painted across their torso boldly with a black circle surrounding it to contrast, meant to denote that while the group had indeed sinned in its past it was returning to the correct ways.

For armor, most wore simple plate mail armor on their forearms, chest and shins with light, reinforced leather on their upper arms and thighs. Heavier soldiers supplemented that instead with solid plate and added a thick pauldron on their shoulders for additional protection.

Their masks had been changed to a plain kabuki mask, as opposed to the Grimm masks of old, with a two inch black visor running from ear to ear, which could display battlefield information as well as serving to protect the eyes from dust and clutter of a battle field and concealing the eyes. Due to many Fang members having animalistic ears atop their heads, or horns, helmets had never been standardly employed and distributed, and now was no exception to that rule. As a result, many had purchased stolen or otherwise procured helmets of their own, from the Atlesian full helmets all the way across the spectrum to the leather caps used by Valean men. The rifles and shotguns being toted around by the many Fang soldiers being deployed were 'on loan' from Atlas, and were no more than the standard weapons that they outfitted their own troops with painted to match the Fang uniform.

Elesis had also changed her gear up a bit, wearing a light steel Dou (Japanese Ashigaru chest piece, commonly seen in Shogun 2 Total War if I am correct) painted white with five red lines going horizontally across the front. Her right fore-arm was armored in the armor piece's matching upper and lower arm-guards, also painted white with a single white line going from the shoulder and shooting down onto the back of her plated glove. Her shins were equally protected, while her thighs were clothed in black stockings that matched the black top she wore under her chest armor.

Her left arm held her sheathed Nodachi, resting the bottom on the floor. The sheath was collapsible and, when she pressed a button, would collapse onto the blade and slide down to form a red and black star shape guard on the handle. Her left arm was largely unarmored, save for her black leather gloves which trailed up to just past her elbow. Red lines were etched into it, which glowed faintly and pulsed every few seconds indicating that Red Dust was infused into the gloves for Fire based attacks.

When she pulled her Nodachi to the side and collapsed the sheath into its combat position, the blade revealed itself as a very unique one. The entirety of the sword was one solid, smooth and well maintained Red Dust Chrystal. Such a weapon carried many risks and benefits with its use. One such benefit tied directly in with her semblance, which granted her precise control of Fire. She couldn't explode devastatingly like Yang could, but instead had a refined, almost pinpoint accuracy with which she could incinerate her enemies. The reason for using the sword however was that she could not actually create fire nor was she immune to its effects, only control it, so when she chambered a Red Dust cartridge into the blade she could either set it ablaze or fire precise shots of liquid flame at adversaries as she so desired.

She looked over at Adam, smiling and pulling her own Fang mask down over her face, mainly so she could use the communication suite built into it. As the doors slid open, the Fang members filed out, weapons raised to fire on any incoming Grimm.

But, surprisingly, there were none to be seen charging so they spread out and began to entrench the position as the small Atlesian fleet floated high above, Viper light interceptors buzzing about around them (the Viper is the small attack craft seen in the episode 'Breach', one guns down an Ursa behind Ruby).

(Jaune Arc, Northern Valean Wilderness, Third Person)

Jaune sighed when he saw the soldiers start to spread out from his perch in the nearby mountains, Priscilla and Artorias just behind him, leaning against the entrance to the cave they'd been hiding in. The plan had, apparently worked. Velka had gathered every Grimm she could manage in that area in order to lure the attack into the large valley and, just as predicted, the military had rolled out in force to conduct a Purging.

The valley was several miles long, thickly forested and surrounded by high peaks that the Atlesian ships had descended into to be capable of providing support to the ground troops. In the mountains on every side of the valley was a large, ornate and complex system of caves which Velka had spent centuries having the Creeps mine out, due to them being the best digging race of Grimm. These tunnels were now swarming with Grimm of every type he knew of, and many he didn't, which were just waiting for him to signal the attack.

He had, at first, disliked the idea of being the one placed in command of this attack but, as Velka had said, he knew their tactics better than either Artorias or Priscilla did. In exchange, Velka had promised to allow him to lead future attacks and, after this battle, even take prisoners instead of killing everyone who dared take the field. He disliked having to kill, or HAVE killed for him, anyone but, as Priscilla had suggested, doing so now meant he could spare lives later.

He missed his clothing, but Velka had insisted that, as her champion, he wear clothing befitting a representative of Velka. After some negotiating on what exactly to actually wear, he'd been given loose fitting black pants, fastened at his knees with silver painted metal shin-guards that strapped at the back. His arm was covered in an equally loose cloth, a matching fore-arm guard fastened tightly on his only arm. At his side, swinging loosely on his hi in a new black scabbard with the Arc symbol etched onto the side in silver coloring was his old sword. It had been reinforced by Velka's magic, turning it black with a silver framing.

Due to his missing limb, he wasn't expected to really fight much but still, he wanted a weapon. Just in case. His outfit was completed by a simple black cloak over a plain grey tunic, the cloak's hood having been pulled over his head to ward off the minor chill in the air due to the higher altitude. A simple black face-mask, a smiling replica of his face etched in silver lines on the front, hid him from view. It would help him survive smoke and ash, Velka had said, from the fighting that was going to occur in the valley. And as the Kingdoms tended to use fire based weapons fairly often, and exploding vehicles and mechs like the Paladins he could already see starting to patrol below tended to burn things as well.

He turned, looking over his shoulder at Artorias and Priscilla, both waiting patiently for his word to move, and nodded at them. She was around fifteen feet tall, a fact that still made Jaune blink in surprise on occasion, while Artorias was about ten to twelve. Artorias growled excitedly, lifting his sword and shield and stretching languidly as Priscilla spun her scythe beside him before raising it above her head and firing a burst of light up and into the air, signaling to the Grimm to attack.

Once the signal went off, he stood patiently and quietly as the hordes of Grimm shot from the tunnels, many running from the very tunnel he had been in until recently and passing him as they rushed down the hill. Above, in the skies, he saw the various aerial Grimm begin engaging the flying Atlesian craft. Already, many Grimm and Atlesians were falling from the skies in bursts of smoke, fire, scales and feathers. With a sigh, he turned and looked at the two towering beings behind him.

He looked up, and saw the towering form of his last ally in this battle rise up from behind the mountain where he'd been kneeling, hidden by Velka's magic. Gough raised his great-bow, and took aim for the flagship of the Atlesian fleet.

(General James Ironwood, Atlesian Flag Ship 'Red Dawn', Third Person)

"Sir, the Grimm came out of nowhere. They're swarming all of our fighter escorts and every Bullhead that was still in the air is down. Carriers are all requesting orders and falling back behind our point defense guns." Ironwood nodded, sitting in his chair on the bridge of his flag ship.

"Order them to ascend above us, with a third of our fighter support, and await further orders." He smashed a hand down on his transmitter, hailing his chief field officer," Marks, rally your units below my ship. We'll use our defense weapons to keep the aerial attackers at a minimum for you."

He was about to issue more orders when the proximity alarms started blaring in the bridge a half-second before a massive barbed arrow sheared into the bridge, destroying the forward half before passing through and continuing on. He reached up from his position on the floor, keying in an over-ride order to list to the side to try and avoid more fire before pulling himself up.

"Damage report." He looked forward, where the damage control console would normally be, but saw open air where his damage control officer had once been sitting. He'd also lost his ability to use the main cannon on his ship or to manually designate targets for his point defense cannons. He looked to his side, where the navigations officer was laying across his console. The young woman was dead, shrapnel riddling her face and torso from the console I front of her's explosion.

The alarms rang again and he turned, looking out the torn hull at another massive arrow. This one carved across the broad-side of his ship, ruining the engines along his left side and crippling his ship entirely. A third hit shortly after, this one ramming through the bottom of the ship and disabling its owner as the large ship, finally, died and sank to the ground, sheering through the dirt for several miles before slamming into a far mountain, crumpling like tissue paper.

James' Scroll went offline and, as he carried it in his breast pocket under his armored vest, and so was presumed dead.

(Elesis Sieghart and Adam Taurus, Third Person, Five Hours Later)

Adam lunged forward, brutally cleaving through an Ursa Major before kneeling and letting a gout of fire smite another across the chest, looking to the side to see a panting Elesis. They'd been fighting almost non-stop for hours, ever since the flag-ship went down. The carriers had tried to lend support, but whatever had absolutely crushed the flag ship earlier had crippled and destroyed two of the carriers, and the third had limped away meekly.

Thus far, they had managed to hold a defensive circle around a half-mile in diameter. Unfortunately, that circle had started out three times that size, and they had been pushed back for hours. Adam may not be showing it much as of yet, but he was fatigued too and sported dozens of small cuts here and there, as well as a crack on his mask.

Elesis had used nearly all of her Dust now, and limped up to Adam tiredly. She had suffered moderately worse than Adam, sporting a large gash rent into the armor of her left leg, a wound which would have taken the WHOLE leg had she not been armored, and having outright lost the White Fang mask somewhere through the battle.

She watched the last Grimm fall as the two of them fell back several yards to the newest defensive line. This had been the flow of the battle since it began, a horde would smash against them and deal heavy casualties, then at some point it would just peter off. During this time, the Beowolves would drag off wounded fighters and the soldiers would surge forward to try and save people only to find dead friends. Had she not known better, she would have almost said it was psychological warfare against them.

But Grimm didn't use tactics like that, everyone knew they were just mindless monsters. But why did they keep pulling out like that? It was odd, no matter how you looked at it. She shook her head, turning to watch for the next attack. She had better things to do than worry about that right now, namely avoiding a grisly death.

(Jaune Arc, Third Person)

Jaune grimaced, watching the fires spread and listening to the cacophony of gunfire peter off as his Grimm receded once more to prepare the next assault. The defender's numbers hadn't quite diminished to the desired levels just yet, but his scouts were seeing activity in Vale's general direction and he couldn't risk anyone surviving this. He'd lucked out when swarming that escaped carrier with Nevermores had managed to bring it down, but luck wouldn't help if anyone came to check on the attack teams Vale had sent.

He turned to the small Beowolf he'd been using as one of his scouts," Go, tell Artorias and Priscilla to end this now. And have Gough get out of here, we can't let him get spotted just yet." The Grimm wolf bowed its head, and ran off into the forest to carry the message and Jaune sighed, looking back out at the battlefield.

Most of the forest had been burnt down now, and Jaune had a far clearer view of everything from the smoking hulks of the ships to the crippled Paladins than he had before. None of this worked to quiet the pain he felt at the people below dying though, and he found himself sick at the thought of his actions. Then he sensed the presence of Velka, dark and powerful, land behind him with the sound of rushing wind and swooshing feathers.

"Jaune, I sense disquiet in your mind. Are you well?" He didn't turn to look up at the raven form she almost always took when traveling and held his peace. He didn't need to speak, as they both knew his troubles. "I understand your pain at the needed deaths below. Please, my knight, have faith in my plan."

"I do. But that does nothing to make it stop bothering me, you know?" She hummed behind him and nodded, her form slowly melting as she reshaped herself once more into her human form.

Her form was tall, easily thirty feet, like many of the Old Gods had been in that form and, if you asked any mortal, they would call her beautiful. She was, after all, the goddess of Sin. Long dark hair on pale skin with a perfect hourglass figure in a long, black dress was how she chose to represent herself usually, unless she was purposely seducing a mortal.

"I brought you a gift, my loyal knight, to strengthen your resolve." Jaune turned and she moved her leg to the side.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune said, looking at the young woman smiling shyly at him happily. "Y-you're here?"

"Yes." She was in her combat attire as he'd last seen her wear it and she stood proud and strong once more. "Velka came and got me from Vale, she even healed my legs for me. It's good to see you, Jaune."

"B-but… I didn't want you here, to see all of this." He looked at the goddess angrily, scowling beneath his helmet," Why would you bring her here?"

"I explained everything to her. She understands why we are doing this, Jaune, and approves." He looked at her in surprise and couldn't fight the smile forcing its way on his face. "I understand why you would be angered, however, and take no offence."

"I had thought she would…." He lost control, walking over to Pyrrha and hugging her tightly. "Thank you so much, Pyr. I…. I was so terrified you'd hate me for this…."

Had his mind been clear of Velka's influence, he'd have wondered at her chilled touch and pale skin. But as it was, he couldn't tell anything was amiss with her. And below, many would soon die because of Velka's deceit.

(Elesis Sieghart and Adam Taurus, Third Person)

Adam straightened forcefully, ignoring the protest from his bruised and battered body, and turned to Elesis worriedly," The sentries are reporting something big coming this way. It's leading a horde of Grimm, easily twice the last group's size."

"Great. Son of a bitch, Adam, you are the WORST jinx. You know that?" She groaned, hopping up and spinning her Nodachi, Blazing Heart, elegantly.

"Yes. I'm well aware. You've told me as much five times now, Elesis." She shrugged, and Adam smiled thinly in spite of himself. Looking past her, into the forest, he saw what appeared to be a giant woman clothed in white approaching them and narrowed his eyes. He was about to ask Elesis if she saw the same thing when a shadow passed over them and he looked up, expecting a Nevermore, only to widen his eyes and leap away as an armored soldier slammed into the dirt, turning and cutting down a young deer Faunus easily before turning towards him.

Adam and Elesis lunged at him even as he cut down another soldier and crushed an Atlesian Heavy Trooper with the pointed edge of his shield. The knight easily blocked both of their attacks, seeming to chuckle amusedly at them before pushing outward with his shield and sword and tossing Elesis and Adam back several feet, before stepping forward to crush another Fang soldier who was scrambling away across the ground.

One of their last Paladins stepped forward over a line of Fang soldiers who were trying to pepper him, and the giant hurled his sword into the cockpit almost playfully before turning and grabbing Adam as he swung at his heels once more, lifting him up in his fist. As the monster crushed him sadistically, and Elesis screamed in terror at his plight, he angled Wilt and Blush and fired. The sword deflected harmlessly off of the giant's helmet with a dull ding, and the creature seemed to regard him for a moment.

Then he crushed Adam forcefully, with a massive sound of snapping bones and tearing flesh. The death was almost instant, even if that instance was the worst manner of pain most could hope to imagine.

Elesis felt her blood boil in her veins as the monster callously threw the corpse aside, before looking off to her right. She saw the downed Paladin, the woman in white on the other side of it, cleaving through soldiers with her scythe almost effortlessly and the glared at the monster who seemed to peer at her in turn before spinning, shielding the other woman from a missile launched by their very last Paladin.

"So, you care about her, huh?" The monster turned to peer at her for a moment, and she pointed at him," All soldiers, focus on him! Don't let up for a moment, no matter what."

By now, the Grimm were tearing into soldiers all along their defensive line yet, as ordered, the men turned their attention on the large monstrosity and unleashed torrents of fire. The beast roared, lashing out angrily with his fist and shield to crush nearby fighters as Elesis, having successfully distracted it, rushed to the downed Paladin.

Once there, she raised her sword and fired a small burs of fire which smote the white bitche's back, making her spin angrily towards the far smaller woman as she slashed downward, emptying her weapon's last cartridge of almost all of its Dust and sending an arc of flame at her.

Angered, the massive woman shot over to her and slammed the pointed base of the scythe's handle downward faster than Elesis, I her wounded state, could react. It impaled her, pinning her to the ground and Elesis gasped in agony as her flesh split open, looking at the pole sprouting from her gut for a moment before looking up at the woman and smiling lightly.

"What is so amusing, pathetic creature?" Elesis merely smiled wider, pointing her sword at the newly uncapped missile the Paladin had been carrying. Point blank range, with raw Dust, she knew the explosion would vaporize everything for thirty yards in every direction. The giant woman also realized it, having followed her sword tip, and her eyes widened as Elesis spoke.

"Fate. It's a right BITCH, ain't it?" And she fired the last gout of fire she had, straight into the missiles unprotected Red Dust. The resulting blast also overloaded the Paladin's power cells, and destroyed everything for several dozen yards in every direction leaving only Artorias' warped sword and Priscilla's burnt and blackened form lying in the crater.

She wheezed painfully for a moment as Artorias' eyes widened at the sudden destruction. And then she breathed her last breath. And finally, the last of Seath's abominations was destroyed.


	39. Finality : Part I : Plots and Plans

**(A/N: So, after this is done I will be starting a NEW story, and also re-writing this one from the bottom-up and uploading as a new story. As such, I will be finishing this one in this final arc. I thank everyone for reading and having patience with my fuck-ups. So thank you all for reading, enjoy the finishing arc.)**

**Vale**

(Cardin Winchester and Coco Adel, Beacon Staff Quarters, Third Person)

It had been several days now since the failed purge in the northern wilds, and both Atlas and Vale were still reeling from the massive losses. Vale had lost fully half its remaining forces, including available mercenaries and Hunters. Vacuo was in a similar state, by all reports, but reports seemed positive from the Kingdom. Then again, as the reports had also said the purge in the north would be simple enough and rather mundane, perhaps the military's intelligence was a bit lacking at present and shouldn't be wholly trusted. The idea they may be lying to keep order in the Kingdoms had also not escaped many, Cardin included.

But, more worrying for Beacon and, by extension, Vale, orders, strategies, reports and so on had wholly ceased coming from Professor Goodwitch entirely and word had gotten out that Ozpin, who had gone north with Zanmei to fight the Atlesian Incursion which, now that Ironwood and Ozpin had both fallen, looked bleak and nearly hopeless. If Miss Goodwitch wasn't able to keep fighting after Ozpin's death, many feared that the world's fate would be sealed and the world would devolve into barbarism until the Grimm wiped everyone out.

They had already checked Glynda's own rooms, finding the door unlocked and the quarters themselves empty, and on Coco's suggestion gone to Ozpin's own quarters. They didn't bother to knock, Cardin instead bashing the door down when they found it still locked and walking in. The quarters were a mess entirely, as if someone had ransacked it and left.

"Holy hell…" Cardin nodded at Coco's statement, and they walked hesitantly into the room. "What happened here?"

"I don't know," Cardin muttered nervously, walking further into the apartment. Turning, he spotted the professor curled up on the bed in a tight ball and walked into the bedroom. Glynda looked like she hadn't moved from that spot for the last day, simply curled into a tight ball on the bed. Hesitantly, he leaned over and shook her shoulder. "Miss Goodwitch? Are you…. Okay?"

She looked up at him angrily, scowling, and Cardin stepped back instantly," No, of course I'm not 'okay', Ozpin is dead. Now get out."

"But, with respect ma'am, the purge in the north failed and we need you to-"She cut off Cardin's words, glaring up at him once more.

"I don't care, Mister Winchester. Now get the hell out." She curled back into her ball, legs tightening a bit.

Coco opened her mouth to speak, but Cardin raised a hand to silence her," Forget it, Coco, we don't need her. We needed the woman Ozpin fell for, not this husk of a human that would make him retch in his throat." He winced when Glynda shot up from the bed, aura flaring before a table shot towards him, which he barely managed to dodge.

"Don't you even DARE, Mister Winchester." He stared evenly at her for a moment before shaking his head and walking to the door.

"Ask yourself what Ozpin would be doing if you had died instead, and then ask yourself why the hell YOU aren't doing it. He didn't fall in love with a selfish bitch, ma'am." And with that Cardin left the room, sweating lightly as he walked with Coco at his heels. Halfway down the hall, she grabbed his arm to stop him.

"The hell was that?" He sighed, looking down slightly at the irate woman and smiling thinly.

"I was trying to piss her off, and it worked. I also made a point to her, and when we left she LOOKED thoughtful. That was my goal, and I think it may have worked." Coco blinked, and quietly followed after the man after a moment.

"You stupid ass…" Cardin laughed loudly at her and continued without comment.

(Penny and Velvet Scarlatina, Former CFVY Dorm, Third Person)

Penny was miserable. She'd found out about her 'father's death the day before and hadn't been able to understand what she was feeling. It felt painful, like she'd taken damage to her chest, but every diagnostic she ran came back saying she was just fine save for a need to have her knee joints repaired slightly from minor over-use. Every search she'd run since had come back the same, and she was confused.

So, she had decided to wait for Velvet to get there to ask her what was going on, a situation that was imminent as Velvet came into the room, smiling thinly at her, "Hey, uh, Penny. I heard what happened to your…. Dad. How are you doing?"

"I do not know, girlfriend Velvet. I have this… pain in my breast, but my diagnostics say I'm perfectly okay." She put a hand over her 'heart', where her main processors were, and tilted her head to the side," I'm confused."

"Penny, you're feeling emotional pain. Physically, you're fine. Your heart is hurting because Ironwood is dead, and you miss him." Velvet smiled understandingly, sitting on the bed next to the robotic girl. "I felt exactly the same when…. Everything happened to me and my friends. It's normal."

"I don't like it though…."

"Well, do you like the feelings you get when we're together?" Penny nodded, blinking at the Faunus interestedly," Well, the reason you hurt now after losing someone is because you HAD them. Having someone is wonderful, but you run the risk of losing that and that hurts. It's just…. Life."

"I hope I never lose you!" Velvet laughed at the synthetic, smiling warmly and accepting the tight hug easily.

"And you won't, if I have anything to say on the matter." Penny nodded, and laid her head on the Faunus's lap as she flipped the television on with a wireless remote in her hand, flipping to a cartoon she enjoyed. Velvet simply relaxed against the cool wall, playing with the android's hair. She just supposed it was her turn to take care of Penny now, after she had helped her.

(Yang Xiao Long, Roman Torchwick and Neapolitan, Beacon Gardens, Third Person)

"I still don't understand why the hell you have me out here playing with plants, Sunspot." He grunted quietly, yanking a particularly annoying and stuck in weed out of the large pot.

"Because Neo doesn't want you hiding in your room and drinking all day long by yourself, and I promised Rubes that I would take care of Zan's plants." She had been surprised to find out Zan was the gardening type, as the large, armor-plated tank of a man seemed more like the kind of guy to work on cars, or throw the around, than to tend a garden.

Roman and Yang were both wearing what they usually did, though the former had removed his long over-coat to keep the white garment clean. Neo had changed her outfit entirely, into a pair of shorts and a simple white tank top. Which had Yang blushing lightly every time she bent over a pot, something which Neo was well aware of and found to be quite amusing.

"Ice Cream Cone, why would you betray me so?" Roman faux whined, smirking over at the young woman who looked up from a pot she was currently bent over, working on preening one of Zan's exotics. She looked over at him, sticking her tongue out, before going back to her task quietly.

Yang sat up from her own plant, one of the last they needed to do, and looked at the two former criminals thoughtfully for a moment," Ya know, it's kind of weird to think that just a couple months ago we were trying our damndest to kill each other…"

"Yeah, and now you and Ice Cream Cone here bang every night. It's odd, all right, but what isn't now a days?" He chuckled dryly when he turned and noticed Neo's light glare and shook his head playfully," Hey, not my fault we have neighboring rooms and YOU TWO sound like you're trying to break down my wall on a regular basis. Honestly, I haven't slept a wink in days."

"Shut up or I'll break one of your legs~" Yang half sang, cracking her knuckles playfully and smiling sadistically. Roman, the smart man he was, quietly returned to work. Pissing off Yang Xiao Long was amongst the worst things one could do, and Roman knew better than to make such a bold attempt at suicide.

(Glynda Goodwitch, Ozpin's Former Quarters, Third Person)

Glynda swore as the hot water ran out on her shower, quickly turning it off and stepping out to towel off and get dressed. Cardin's insults had been meant to snap her back into focus, and she knew that was the intended effect. But he had been correct in his assertions, Ozpin would never have wanted her to wallow in despair when things were as bad as they were. She was needed by her people, and Ozpin would have never allowed his own pains to still his hand in such a situation so she wouldn't allow herself to do so either.

Cleaned and dressed, she checked the time and, noting the late hour, decided not to head out just yet and instead started cleaning the apartment she had wrecked in her day of grieving. It took a few hours to get the entire place cleaned to her satisfaction, and he was happy to see it returned to its former state of cleanliness.

Now, she was stood in his little 'chapel' as he had called it, looking at the symbols and the statue. She'd never been religious in her entire life, a career fighting creatures of nightmare tended to kick the ideas of religions he'd seen thus far out of many Hunters and Huntresses. But now, standing there and thinking about Ozpin, she couldn't help the words that left her mouth.

"Whatever gods do exist, you'd best take care of Ozpin until I get there. Or I'll see to it you pay for mistreating him." With that, she turned and strode out of the room to begin going over reports and missions, as well as the accounting and other clerical items she needed taken care of. She had a lot of work she needed to get done, and not a lot of time to catch up on it all. So she did what Ozpin would have suggested.

And made a mug of tea.

**Atlas**

(Zanmei Taiyang and Ruby Rose, Atlesian Hotel, Midnight, First Person)

We had had a long, tiring day today. As soon as we'd woken up, we'd been loaded onto a Bullhead and spent most of the day fighting wave after wave of Grimm. The fighting was, for us, relatively easy as it was mostly the lighter types, like Beowolves and Creeps, but the duration had been what wore Ruby down over time, and now she could finally rest up, which she had promptly done two hours earlier when we had returned to our hotel and she had conked out on one of the beds.

Still energetic, due to a ridiculously larger reserve of stamina and energy than my younger counterpart, I had elected to stay up and work on our gear, checking components of our weapons and armor for wear and tear and using souls and metal to repair whatever I found wanting. I didn't flinch when the Dark Serpent started talking, as I had spent the day bolstering myself with its power and so being hesitant now seemed almost hypocritical.

"Zanmei, I need to speak with you." I turned, looking at the creature over my shoulder and motioning for him to speak with a wave of my hand. "I have found a way to end this war before more is lost, and to free the Dark from the wretches' who control it."

"How?" I signed over my shoulder, more of habit than any need as it could sense my thoughts.

"If we go to the First Flame once more, and you relight it as you did before, I can direct it to strike down all who use the Dark. The world will survive exactly as it is, but any Undead will be obliterated entirely." I looked over at him, my question clear in my thoughts. "You will return, in time, as you did before."

"I will not abandon Ruby like that," the Serpent seemed to nod its head understandingly, turning to regard the sleeping figure.

"I can shield you from most of the Fire's harm, I merely need a conduit for it to strike forward. You will sleep in stone as you did before, but only for ten years." I blinked in surprise and it chittered quietly at me.

"Ten years, exactly?" It nodded and I lowered my head in though, indecision taking me for a moment before I stood up. I'd left my lower half armored, mainly as I hadn't yet gotten to that part of my equipment just yet, so the plates clinked lightly. "We must ask Ruby, her decision will be mine. Can she see you?"

"If you so desire, I can make myself visible to anyone." I nodded, and walked over to Ruby's sleeping form and shook her lightly to wake her up.

"Whas'happening?" I chuckled at her sleepy face, shaking my head and waiting until she woke up a bit more to start signing. Once she was awake enough to understand, I explained the situation to her as simply as I could.

"I may have a way to end the Grimm incursions and stop this war, but my," I searched for several seconds for the right word to describe the Serpent before continuing," My comrade is the one who can explain to you the intricacies of what I'd need to do. I just don't want you to be frightened when he appears, as he IS an aspect of the Dark, which created the Grimm."

"Okay, so it isn't human then?" I shook my head and she nodded, pulling her legs against her chest in her night-clothes. "Okay, I guess, let's talk about this." She sucked in a breath of surprise when the Serpent, I assumed, made himself visible to her.

"Hello, young one. I do so apologize for interrupting your rest, as you seem to need it after the day you two have had. As such, I will try to explain this quickly so you can make your decision." Ruby nodded moderately nervously, and the serpent looked to me for permission to continue, which I gave via a nod. "As you may have realized, the Grimm are being controlled by another entity entirely. These beings have enslaved my kind to do their will, and I wish to free them. The easiest way is to relight the First Flame, and for me to direct its power against the other Dark Users. That will destroy them utterly, and annihilate the Grimm under their thrall."

"Sounds great. What's the catch though?" The serpent chuckled amusedly, tilting its head to look at me.

"I see now why you like this one, Undead warrior." I nodded, sitting beside the girl and hugging her lightly. "Yes, you are right that a… catch exists. When Zanmei and his friend first lit the Flame, they were entombed for an eternity as their world died and fell apart, and your world began to come into being. As such, he will be entombed once again to do this. But I will shield him with my own power, and as such he will only sleep for ten of your years."

"So, I'd lose ten years with him?" She muttered sadly, before looking up," But this is the best shot we have, right? So we have to do it, right?"

"Yes, it is indeed the most sure way to prevent further losses. But I have a second offer, for you alone if you allow this endeavor." I blinked, frowning at him in concern over what this 'offer' could be. "My purpose is to free the Dark from its binds, so if you allow me to attain that goal I will grant to you eternity."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked quietly, and I felt my blood chill in my veins at the prospect he offered, fearful of the risks of what he was suggesting.

"I sense Zanmei's anxiety over what I offer, but fear not. The madness of Hollowing will never touch her, nor will the Darksign spread. The Dark causes that madness, and the Dark cannot touch her kind. Thus came the cause for the Grimm's existence, as the way the Dark fought the spread of Humanity and the Light was no longer possible." He turned back to the girl, and I sighed in relief at his explanation," As for your question, I offer you what Zanmei already has. The Darksign grants immortality to those who bear it, and I offer it to you in payment for those ten years with him you will lose. You will gain an eternity with him instead."

"Then do it. How on Remnant could I say no, even just to you ending this war?" The Serpent nodded and looked to me for permission.

"I shan't do this if you dislike it, Zanmei. Your permission is required for my gift to her." I looked down at the girl for a moment, and she stared back with her one eye. Looking back at the Serpent, I nodded and it smiled happily. "Very well then, you must depart at once. Before they realize what I have planned and go there, as they are near enough to beat you there. I shall stay and brand her with the Sign, and rejoin you when you are on your way."

I nodded, starting to strap on my armor once more and smiling grimly at the prospects he had given me," If you go to the Atlesian base, you can get a Bulhead to fly to Vale. Autopilot should get you to Beacon, at least."

I nodded and, after I finished strapping my armor into place, grabbed my shield and sword and started making my way to the nearby base to 'borrow' one of their Bullheads and head to Vale.


	40. Finality : Part II : Burning Again

**(A/N: So just this and one more chapter, then the re-write. But I wanted to know, should I change the pairings and, if so, what would you guys like to see? Also, for the re-write, I will be making MUCH longer chapters and taking much more time with them to flesh out dialogue and descriptions, and pace things better. My question regarding THAT is should I leave this story up, or delete it and make a new one?**

**Thanks for the input.**

**Lastly, this last chapter will be entirely from two perspectives, Ruby's, in Atlas, and Zanmei's in Vale. All other points of view, pairings and so on will be finalized in the epilogue, next chapter. And also, dear Guests, I cannot reply to a Guest review so please register with Fanfiction so I may respond to you.**

**And finally, for the pairings I want messages and reviews containing any ideas or wants you have for them. Zanmei's options are Yang, Blake and Weiss, as I don't want to redo the Ruby one. Though I will if everyone votes for her.)**

(Ruby Rose, Atlesian Defense Base the Next Morning, Third Person)

"So, let me get this perfectly straight now." Ruby looked over at the large, armored man with a small, disarming smile," Your partner, Zanmei Taiyang, has disappeared, as has one of our fast-flying Bullheads, which we last detected headed straight for Vale, and you neither have any idea where he has gone, nor why?"

"That pretty much sums it up, yep." She kept the smile up, even as she rubbed her arm nervously, right over the spot where the Darksign had been etched into her skin. "So, uh, can I get my deployment orders now?"

"And why on Remnant would I send you out now instead of detaining you under suspicion of aiding in the theft of an Atlesian military vehicle?" She blinked quietly, the though having not crossed her mind, and thought for a moment.

"Because you need every soldier you have on your walls when the horde hits," he blinked in surprise at her statement and she smiled grimly up at him," I did read my briefings, you know. The attacks keep getting bigger and bigger, with more powerful Grimm showing up daily. I'm a good enough fighter for a Combat School Headmaster to bring me along to fight."

"And you say we can't spare a competent fighter?" She nodded vigorously and he sighed, leaning back in his seat tiredly," Well, to be quite frank, you are rather correct. In spite of the HIGHLY illegal nature of your involvement in this, I cannot simply toss an able bodied fighter in a cell. So, you will be heading out on the front to fight." He sighed, sliding a small notebook across to her," That'll get you on the Bulhead and tell you your assignments, you know the drill."

"Yep yep! See you later, sir." And with that she leapt up from her seat in the small office and jogged out of the room, Crescent Rose clanking against her armored leg quietly. She quickly found the area where her 'unit' was assembling, mostly mercenaries, Hunters and other non-military (strictly speaking) groups.

After a few minutes, they started filing into Bullheads for transport to their assigned stations, hers being just over the wall like the day before's, and she waited quietly. Hopefully, the battles would be over soon enough as Zanmei followed through on his plan.

(Zanmei Taiyang, Emerald Forest, First Person)

I rolled my shoulders, stretching the muscles out before kicking open the cock-pit door and stepping out of the ship, raising my shield and shouldering my sword comfortably. Looking over my shoulder, I could see Beacon in the distance, Bullheads and assorted smaller craft, civilian or otherwise, buzzing about it busily. I could sense the masses of Dark, the Serpent telling me that the pin-pricks I could feel all across the forest were Grimm being actively controlled by something using the Dark.

I sighed quietly, walking down the slope and towards the forest. It didn't take long to start finding Grimm, though the creatures almost unanimously fell without much struggle or complaint beyond a snarl or a bark of dying pain. Eventually, I sensed something Dark, not made of it, rather controlling it or infected with it, in between me and the entrance to the cave where the First Flame rested, waiting for me.

I broke through the tree-line, shoving aside a last Boarbatusk's broken corpse as I did so and looking out at the clearing. Two beings were there, as if waiting for me patiently to block me from my goal. One was familiar, and simply sat on a rock by the entrance patiently, before hopping up with his weapon and shield at the ready. Artorias leader, or so I assumed him to be when he raised a hand to block Artorias from attacking and he obeyed the command. I looked at the cloaked individual curiously, my head cocked to the side.

"Velka told us to wait for you here. Said you'd be here, but she neglected to say why. So, Zanmei, why ARE you here?" Artorias snarled at him and he seemed to regard the fallen knight quietly before looking over his right shoulder, away from Artorias who was on his left, and seemed to listen to something speak.

"He is corrupted by Dark, Zanmei, best to simply finish him now and end his suffering quickly." I squinted at the Serpent's advice, but elected to wait and see what he did. My answer came quickly, when he turned back to me jerkily, sunlight glinting off his silver plates and mask.

"Pyrrha's right," my eyes widened at the realization of his identity, and that poor Jaune was truly enthralled," Velka says to kill you, so we should." He raised his right hand, waving as if beckoning something. "So, while I'm sorry it has to be this way, you have to die. Artorias, gut him."

I spun, taking the Beowolf's clawed strike across my shield and smashing it forward to crush his jaw, leaving him to choke to death on the chunks of bone now clogging his throat before slashing to my side and bisecting a second Grimm wolf. Another turn and I caught Artorias' downward hack on the rim of my shield, staggering slightly under the weight of the blow.

Artorias snarled angrily, smashing his shield against the edge of my own and forcing me to turn somewhat painfully. He'd caught me somewhat off-guard, and we both knew it. A fact shown on his end quite quickly, smashing his knee up into my gut and tossing me back a few feet, winding me. I accepted the Serpent's help gladly when he offered it, seizing on the strength the Dark granted when it did so willingly and taking the next slash, a vicious attack aimed for my head, fully on my shield with minimal effort. Artorias snarled behind his helmet at me and I smiled, shoving him back and away from me with my shield.

"You two, corrupted and controlled by the Dark, could never compare with someone whom the Dark truly obeys." I looked behind me, surprised to see the Dark Seeker Serpent towering above me in between the trees. Around him, and the clearing itself, I could see the Grimm, cowering before the monster. "You dare to control the creatures of Dark, using the tattered leash of your mistress? Such pitiful powers could NEVER compare to my own control. A being of the Dark itself!" He heaved his head back, taking a long breath before unleashing a miasma of black, inky smoke that coated the clearing's floor up to our ankles, and seemed to make the Grimm shrink back. "Zanmei, the Grimm will not come into this clearing further. And you will soon see that the Dark serves only those it wishes to, when asked."

I nodded, turning and glaring at Artorias who stood between me and the corrupted Jaune, snarling as the aura around him seemed to die slightly, my own Dark aura intensifying.

Laughing quietly, I shot forward faster than I ever remembered moving and smashed my great-sword down. The force of the strike dented his shield inward slight, and bent my own sword considerably. I snarled in disgust at the shoddy craftsmanship and tossed the useless thing away, drawing my straight-sword in moderate annoyance at the brand new sword breaking so soon.

Artorias growled, stepping back and lunging forward, aiming his great-sword at my gut with a thrust. Augmented by the Dark, and him being WEAKENED without it, I easily side-stepped his thrust and smashed my shield into shoulder, breaking the bon and forcing him to his knees. When he looked up, snarling at me angrily, I slammed my straight-sword through his throat and wrenched it to the side, nearly severing his head and letting him fall limply to the side.

I glared at Jaune, flicking the blood off the end of my blade easily and watching him draw his own sword, turning to whisper over his shoulder," Run, Pyrrha. Get the goddess, she'll protect you."

I sighed, shaking my head at the pitiable display and turning to look up and the Serpent, who shook his head equally sadly," He is too corrupted even for me to cleanse. Nor would he survive your plans in any event, as I can only shield one from the after-effects of the Flames." I nodded, looking back at Jaune who raised his weapon in a ready stance," Poor boy. Best be quick, lest the Goddess get here. No doubt, she didn't intend for them to fail against you so readily."

I nodded and walked towards Jaune, still trying to hold his ground in front of the cave entrance. With a yell of fury, for Jaune at least, he charged at me. I took his blow, admittedly a rather forceful one, by Human standards, across my shield and planted my sword in his chest easily. I grimaced at the boy, releasing my sword as he fell away and letting him collapse against the cool grass limply, ignoring him as I stepped over him and he grabbed at my leg feebly before finally dying.

I left my shield by the entrance, to mark for Ruby that I had made it there should she come looking, and started to walk back down the tunnel, into the inky blackness. Eventually, I found the Kiln itself and took a moment to look around. The Kiln was remarkable well-preserved and I sighed lightly as I approached the First Flame, feeling it sap at me as I approached.

Before, I had had Solaire to help and, I knew, he had shielded me from some of the pain of the Flame taking hold by lighting it first and letting me join after. Without him, I felt the entirety of the pain of burning alive and screamed in pain, collapsing as the Fire swelled and a gout shot past me, out of the Kiln.


	41. Finality : Part III : Epilogue

**Epilogue**

(Ruby Rose, Emerald Forest Ten Years Later, Third Person)

It had been ten years, ten long years of rebuilding and recovering from the Incursions, and retaking lost land. Mistral had been obliterated and, thus far, the Kingdoms had been far too busy clearing out old farmland and villages and resettling old villages once again to bother resettling the city and, by extension, the Kingdom.

Ruby had been fighting in Atlas, the Grimm starting to really surge forward with the help of a massive black dragon, and was in the process of falling back with a platoon's worth of Atlesian soldiers when the dragon let out an awful screech and flew off, headed straight toward Vale. The soldiers had let out roar of joy at the departure, which had redoubled ten minutes later when fully half the Grimm simply collapsed like puppets lacking strings and started to dissolve almost instantly. Of the ones which remained, most merely fled as if ordered back by some unseen entity, a last kindness of the Serpent perhaps.

That had been a decade ago, and Ruby had not aged a day in all that time. Eventually, she had been confronted by Yang about it and had been forced to tell her, and by extension Neo. Yang had been less than thrilled to hear about her sister's new-found immortality, worrying for her once her friends started to die. Which, to be fair, was something Ruby wasn't really looking forward to but she had made that choice, perhaps a bit hastily truth be told, but all the same she was stuck with her choice now.

Yang and Neo, now married for about three years as much as it annoyed Roman to have to deal with Neo moving Yang into their house in Vale City, and both had accompanied the young brunette along with Ren and Nora, the latter expecting their second child soon. The former pair were well known as teachers at Beacon, Ruby taking over as head combat instructor and Ren as head of Grimm studies. Nora lived in his quarters with him, with their son.

Sun and Neptune hadn't wanted to come, the former still having not forgiven Zanmei for Blake's death and the latter simply too busy to come, working in his vehicle repair shop with Sun for the day. His team had slit up, the other two going off to help resettle the border towns and to help them rebuild.

Glynda had retired as soon as Beacon had been rebuilt and repaired, handing the reins of Headmaster and Headmistress to Coco and Cardin, who had also accompanied the scythe wielder into the forest but had left after several hours due to pressing matters at Beacon. Those two had never married as of yet, and by all indication never would. Cardin found the idea of a piece of paper being needed to recognized as being together, and Coco was inclined to agree.

Penny and Velvet had moved to Atlas, Penny technically being the property of the Atlesian military. The Atlesian General who replaced Ironwood had at first tried to force her to separate from Velvet, but the irate Faunus had quickly destroyed that notion. As well as his desk, chairs and prized Great-Axe. After that, the general had elected to leave the two well enough alone as Penny was perfectly willing to follow his orders, so long as he left the two alone.

Now, Ruby was pacing nervously in front of the cave's exit. It was getting later and later in the day, and Zanmei still hadn't come out of the cave. "Where is he?" She finally squeaked anxiously, sitting in front of the cave and hugging her legs to her chest.

"Maybe it just took him a bit to get down there? You said the snake told you EXACTLY ten years." Ruby looked up at her sister, standing behind her in her bright yellow business suit, something she'd gotten a habit of wearing from Neo.

"But what if the Serpent was wrong, or lying? I'll be stuck all alone, forever…" Yang nodded, sitting next to her and Neo hopped up on a rock by the entrance, staring down into the dark.

"Hey, we'll…. Figure something out, if that happens. Okay?" Ruby nodded and Neo herself began to worry, an emotion mirrored by Yang. They sat for another hour until Neo sat up alertly, looking further down the tunnel as the darkness seemed to get…. Darker. More solid and intense, with even less light coming from the tunnel. Neo signed quickly at Yang, hopping off her rock and grabbing her sword anxiously.

A dull clacking began to emit from the tunnel a minute later as fog, or smoke rather, began to spill out of the cave's exit. Yang and Ruby both hopped up, the former readying her own weapon anxiously as well, stepping back. Ruby had told them what Hollowing was, as the Serpent had told her, and they had all feared that when he did awaken, he'd do so as a Hollow instead of as a man.

Instead, however, Ruby let out a loud laugh of joy when Zan came limping up the tunnel, leaning against the wall of the cave as he did so and panting heavily. Seeing the trio, he lifted an arm in greeting and sank against the wall, sliding down it tiredly. Yang and Ruby shot forward quickly, one immediately hugging the exhausted warrior and the other throwing an arm over her shoulder, dragging him to his feet.

With her help, he limped to the Bullhead they'd taken to get there and waited, leaning against the side too exhausted to even move. Ruby simply sat next to him on the floor, curled up by his side while he rested against the side of the vehicle.

(Zanmei Taiyang, Beacon Dorms, Three Days Later, First Person)

I grunted, stretching in my bed and sitting up. My armor, cleaned and repaired to perfection, was sitting on the armor rack by the window with my shield and sword, all in perfect order. I quietly look across the room, where I spotted Ruby sleeping at my desk, though from the appearance of the dorm she'd more than made herself at home so I supposed it was probably OUR desk at this point.

Standing up, I quietly slipped into the set of clean clothes, just a normal Beacon uniform, and walked over to the fridge to grab a soda. Walking up behind her, I set the can next to her and opened it loudly, the hiss startling the young girl who very nearly fell from her chair in surprise, papers stuck to her face as she looked up at me dazedly for a moment before smiling widely.

"Zanmei! You're up!" I nodded, wincing when she slammed into my still somewhat sore body and hugging her back. "Oh Dust, everyone will be so happy to see you up! It's been a few days, and they were worried. You HAVE to see the new statues they built in the courtyard!"

I sighed happily and let her half drag me out of the room and down the hallway, which was sparsely populated by students who quickly parted ways for the tow of us. Some saluted me as we passed, and others bowed. A few even inclined their heads in respective bows or gestures of greeting. All seemed to know of me, and when we passed by they all started talking about me excitedly. I only caught snippets here and there, mostly of a title. 'The Black God.' The name confused me greatly, but I shrugged dismissively.

Outside in the courtyard, Yang, Coco, Neo, and Cardin were waiting patiently by a massive statue. It stood at about fifty feet tall and had two statues, one black and one white. The white one faced North while the Black faced South. The White one was modeled like Solaire, standing with his shield resting on the ground, palm on the upper ridge to hold it in place and sword resting across his chest and helmeted head bowed in a salute.

The other was me, standing armored as I always was with my shield resting on the ground directly in front of me, leaning against my chest with my left arm across the top. My right held my Great-Sword's handle, the blade resting across the backs of my shoulders. My head, unlike Solaire's' was upturned towards the sky as if searching for something. Between us was what looked like a carving of Beacon's central tower, climbing to just a couple inches over my head.

"You like them?" Cardin asked quietly from behind me, and I turned to look at my friends, nodding lightly. "We call them the Twin Guardians. You two rewrote the history books, you know. That Serpent told Ruby a lot of stuff, and her writings were partially vindicated when the Grimm Incursions were ended and, now you have come back and as neither of you have aged even a minute… That vindicates the rest."

I hugged Ruby when she stepped in for another one and smiled, looking across at him and speaking cleanly and easily for the first time in centuries," That is good to hear." And so, I began a new journey.

At least this time, I probably won't have to end up burning myself alive again.


End file.
